F1 gossip: Hamilton, Lauda, Schumacher, Rosberg, Hakkinen

Damon Hill, a 1996 world champion with Williams, says Mercedes have to treat Lewis Hamilton with care or risk losing him to another team. (Guardian), external

Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda says Hamilton's new team-mate Valtteri Bottas has made a good impression despite his quiet demeanour. (ORF via Sport360), external

The German team has defended the decision to remove a message of support to former driver Michael Schumacher. (Autoweek), external

World champion Nico Rosberg has not ruled out a return to Formula 1 as a team boss. (Sports Bild via Planet F1), external

Renault's Jolyon Palmer says that "someone needs to give me a bit of a shove back into reality" if he ever gets caught up in the "bling" of being an F1 driver. (Reuters), external

Team owner Gene Haas says the decline in F1 viewing figures is inevitable given the competing demands for people's interests, but need not damage the sport. (Crash.net), external

Finn Mika Hakkinen - who won two world titles with McLaren - celebrated his appointment as a 'partner ambassador' for the team by filling up his McLaren F1 roadcar.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel says he is confident he can with the title this year. (Sport Bild via F1i.com), external

Adelaide is keen to 'explore' hosting the Australian Grand Prix. (The Advertiser), external

Renault insists that a recent push to clarify that Formula 1 manufacturers were not allowed to burn oil as fuel was not an 'attack' on any of its rivals. (Autosport), external

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will push team-mate Daniel Ricciardo throughout the 2017 season, according to team principal Christian Horner. (The Age), external

Azerbaijan Grand Prix promoter Arif Rahimov has responded to criticism from Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei, after Maffei claimed the Baku race "did not contribute to the overall growth of the sport". (Autosport), external

Felipe Massa was at Stade Louis II to watch Monaco beat Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday. (Twitter), external

Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz says the team are aiming to finish fifth this year and says he needs to deliver this season to attract the interests of a bigger team. (Formula 1), external

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has praised the decision to relax the rules on social media on race weekends. (Kurier via GrandPrix.com), external

Nico Rosberg wished musician and The Voice coach Will.i.am a happy 42nd birthday.

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his team would be winning races if they had Mercedes' engine and said he is not sure yet whether McLaren will be as competitive as last year . (AS), external

Force India have gone pink for 2017 as part of a new sponsorship deal and it quickly became a talking point on Twitter.

Force India's Esteban Ocon says he is confident about his car and is targeting points in every race this season.(Formula 1), external

McLaren have revealed their drivers' diet plans so that fans can eat like a Formula 1 driver. (Business Insider), external

Mercedes will be "worried" by Ferrari's impressive performance in pre-season testing, according to former F1 technical chief Mike Gascoyne. (Sky Sports), external

Ferrari's "sandbagging" tactics in Formula 1 pre-season testing has left Red Bull worried, according to its motorsport chief Helmut Marko. (Eurosport), external

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas says the new generation of Formula 1 cars require a different driving style. (ESPN), external

Haas driver Romain Grosjean posted on Twitter, external after an early morning gym session as he prepares for the new season.

Haas are hoping they can test their new brakes at the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Eurosport), external

Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari are in a much better position this year than they were in pre-season testing last year. (ESPN), external

Williams' 18-year-old driver Lance Stroll says he is aiming to keep calm in his first Grand Prix in Australia. (F1i.com), external

Mercedes have crunched all the numbers from their pre-season testing in Barcelona. (Mercedes), external

Renault say their new Formula 1 engine has exceeded performance targets, despite the pre-season testing programme being impacted by reliability troubles. (Autosport), external

Lewis Hamilton has given a rallying cry to his fans on Twitter...

McLaren could face a choice between lead driver Fernando Alonso and their Honda power unit, which saw the Spaniard and F1 rookie Stoffel Vandoorne nearly 20mph behind their rivals on the straights in pre-season testing at Barcelona. (Daily Express), external

A break clause to end the partnership between McLaren and Honda could be activated at the end of the forthcoming season. (Fox Sports), external

Alonso, 35, said Formula 1's new breed of cars and lower-degradation tyres will mean drivers no longer have to race like "small children".(Autosport), external

Formula 1 teams fear the maximum fuel capacity of the new 2017 cars might not be enough to last a whole race. (F1i.com), external

Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein, 22, believes he was not chosen for the Mercedes F1 seat taken by Valtteri Bottas, 27, because of a lack of experience. (Autosport), external

Max Verstappen says he is not worried about the reliability of Red Bull's Renault engine after hitting trouble on the final day of pre-season testing. (ESPN), external

Ferrari has become the first team to take Liberty Media up on its offer of shares in the sport's new owners. (Pitpass), external

Romain Grosjean, 30, preparing for his second season with Haas, still has ambitions to become world champion and says he is still chasing a "big team" seat, with Ferrari his number one choice. (PlanetF1), external