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

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Breakdown

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

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

Valuation Growth

The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.

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

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.

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

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