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Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.

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

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.