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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Structure

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

An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Increase

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

This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Standings

Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.

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

Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.