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Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Financial Increase

This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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