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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 values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.

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

Ownership Breakdown

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

An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Increase

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.

Current Standings

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 fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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