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

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.

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

The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Increase

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.

This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.

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

The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.