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

This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.

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

The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Ownership Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Growth

The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations 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 Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

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

Present Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two 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.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.