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

The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.

The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.

Current Standings

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.

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

Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.