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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

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

Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

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

The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.

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

Current Performance

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

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 behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.