Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
