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

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Ownership Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.

An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£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 constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after 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.