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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Increase

The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.