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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 – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.

Ownership Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.

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

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

Current Standings

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

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

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