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Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Increase

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

This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.