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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.