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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Ownership Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Growth

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

This surge reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.

Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far 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 won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.