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

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.

Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.

Ownership Breakdown

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Growth

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

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

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Standings

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.