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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

This transaction values 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 in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, 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 in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.