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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 estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.

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

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.

An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Growth

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

The film represents 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, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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