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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.

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

Ownership Breakdown

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.

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

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.