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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Breakdown

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

An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Increase

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.