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

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

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

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

Ownership Breakdown

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

An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."

Valuation Increase

The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.

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

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