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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

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

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

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

Shareholder Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Growth

The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer 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

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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