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

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

Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Increase

The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.

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

It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.

Present Performance

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

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

The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.