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Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal 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 a third of the company.

An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

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

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.