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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

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

The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.

An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."

Financial Increase

The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.

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

The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.

Current Standings

Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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