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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

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

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

Ownership Breakdown

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

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

This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.

Current Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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