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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.

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

Shareholder Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

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

This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

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

Current Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth 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 driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.