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Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

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

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.

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

Ownership Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

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

This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 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 Racing's Max Verstappen.

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