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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team 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 management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams 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 Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.

Present Standings

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

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.