On-the-mend Lauda sorely missed at Mercedes - Wolff

Toto Wolff says his Mercedes partner Niki Lauda his very much missed by himself and the entire German team as the Austrian continues to recover from his recent lung transplant.

As the Silver Arrows non-executive chairman, Lauda has been ever-present over the past years in the team's garage and beyond, overlooking operations and supporting Wolff's management actions and efforts.

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

"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 or opposite pole," he added.

Despite his lengthy convalescence in Vienna, Lauda isn't losing track of the action on race weekends and the F1 legend is also being kept abreast of developments by Wolff.

"His health is the most important thing for now, so he needs rest, but I'm in regular contact with him," said Wolff.

"He watches all the races and I try to keep him up to date as much as possible."

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