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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 F1 outfit.

The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.

An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of 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 last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.

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

Present Standings

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

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.