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

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 corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns 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 chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

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

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

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.