Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
