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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.

An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."

Financial Growth

The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.