Wolff and Lauda in "regular contact"

Niki Lauda is still in care in a Vienna hospital after going through a life-saving lung transplant a few weeks ago, and now Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed that he is in regular contact with the Austrian.

Lauda has been Mercedes’ non-executive chairman since September 2012 and has played an important part in the team, especially in the last couple of years.

It is obvious that Wolff misses having Lauda in the team on race weekends.

He told German newspaper Die Welt: "For me I especially miss him from the human point of view. As a travel companion, a sparring partner and a friend.

"It was important that we always had dinner in the evening to discuss the day -- just the two of us. At the moment I have lost a very important contact person.”

Wolff also says that he is keeping the former triple champion up to date with what is going on at the team and in the F1 world.

Of course this is not the first major health scare Lauda has had in his life. Surviving this is probably what is expected of Lauda, who suffered one of the biggest crashes of the 70s at the Nurburgring in 1976.

He recovered incredibly and won the title the following season.

Wolff added: "His health is the most important thing for now, so he needs rest, but I'm in regular contact with him. He watches all the races and I try to keep him up to date as much as possible."