Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his stake at a $6bn valuation, in a deal that would mark a record for an F1 team and underscore the sport’s commercial success under US ownership.

The deal under discussion would involve Wolff bringing an outside investor into the holding company that owns his 33 per cent stake in the Mercedes F1 team, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

It would result in an outside investor taking a stake of about 5 per cent in the team, the person said. Wolff would remain as chief executive and team principal.

“The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners (Mercedes-Benz, Toto and Ineos) are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1,” Mercedes F1 said in a statement.

Wolff, German carmaker Mercedes-Benz and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company Ineos each own a third of the team.

Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix, the company that operates the F1 team, reported revenues of £636mn in 2024, up from £546mn the previous year. Pre-tax profit rose to £163mn from £115mn in the same timeframe. The company proposed a final dividend for the year of £125mn.

The deal for Wolff’s stake would represent a significant increase in valuation since January 2022, when Ineos paid £208mn for its 33 per cent stake. The potential stake sale was first reported by Sportico.

A $6bn valuation would set a high-water mark for an F1 team.

In September the Middle Eastern backers of McLaren Racing — Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi investment group CYVN Holdings — took full ownership of the team in a deal valuing it at more than £3bn. That valuation was more than five times the £560mn ascribed to McLaren in a fundraise in December 2020.

Racing teams have soared in value since John Malone’s Liberty Media took over F1 in 2017 and successfully attracted a new generation of fans.

Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive was a global hit, particularly in the US, and catapulted Wolff and other F1 chiefs into the spotlight.

Since joining Mercedes in 2013, Wolff has led the team to seven drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ titles. Sir Lewis Hamilton delivered the team’s success on the track for much of Wolff’s reign, but the British driver departed for Italian rival Ferrari this year after the team’s car was beset with problems.

Mercedes sits second in this season’s constructors’ championship, which has already been won by McLaren with three races remaining. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli sit fourth and seventh in the drivers’ standings respectively.

Wolff was among the executive producers on F1 The Movie, which was released by Apple earlier this year and grossed more than $630mn at the box office.