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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

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

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."

Financial Increase

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion 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 Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.

It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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