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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth 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 box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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