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Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a 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 fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Increase

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.