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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.

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

Ownership Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.

An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Growth

The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos 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 growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.

Present Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.

Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 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 record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.