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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Increase

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

The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

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

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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