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

This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Growth

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits 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 Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.

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

Present Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's 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 won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.