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Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

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

Shareholder Structure

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

An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."

Valuation Growth

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Standings

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.