Niki Lauda expects Mercedes to replace Nico Rosberg quickly

Hamilton (right) says he was not surprised by Rosberg's decision to retire

Mercedes' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda wants to "give a Christmas present" to a driver after the shock retirement of world champion Nico Rosberg on Friday.

Team boss Toto Wolff said the search would start on Monday, with a decision expected by the end of 2016.

"It is a huge loss because we had the quickest driver set-up over the last three years," Lauda told Sportsweek.

"I need a driver for the first test in February when the new car is ready."

He added: "We have to train him on the simulator and into the team, so we should have a decision before the end of the year."

The search for a 'better man'

Rosberg retired five days after beating British team-mate Lewis Hamilton to clinch his first world title.

Hamilton, a three-time world champion, has said he "doesn't care" who is picked as the German's replacement.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, Lauda added: "Nico and Lewis were pushing each other. Lewis won two championships and Nico won one. Now we have to find a better man than Nico because we want to continue to win.

"This is a big problem for us to find a replacement, so I cannot tell you now because we have to think about it, contact everybody and make proper research into who we are going to put in the best car in Formula 1.

"We have the best car to offer but at the moment no driver. The other drivers, or the majority certainly, have 1 December contracts for next year so really we have to do good research, who is there, what and when and then we will take a decision, but it will take a while."

Rosberg '1,000%' sure of retirement

Lauda retired from F1 in 1979 before coming back to win the 1984 World Championship. He quit the sport as a driver on a permanent basis a year later.

Asked about Rosberg's decision to retire, he said: "I was really surprised - this was never on my radar that this could happen.

"I spoke to him afterwards to find out because I did this twice in my career and I really wanted to make sure it was not a quick decision which he might regret and I wanted to find out how sure he is.

"Of my question 'how sure are you?' he said '1,000%'. Then I knew that it is over - you cannot convince him any more."

Formula 1 calendar 2017: German GP dropped & Brazil in doubt

Germany could not complete a deal for the race to be held at Hockenheim in 2017

Germany has been dropped from next year's Formula 1 calendar and the Brazilian Grand Prix is also in doubt.

The calendar contains 20 races with Brazil listed as provisional.

F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone told governing body the FIA he was still in talks with Brazil's president and could not confirm the race's place on the schedule until January.

The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, which had also been in doubt, has been confirmed.

Germany was unable to complete a deal for the race to be held at Hockenheim. In the country's biennial swap deal, it is the turn of the Nurburgring but that circuit has financial problems and cannot host the F1 race.

The season starts in Australia on 26 March and ends in Abu Dhabi on 26 November. The British Grand Prix is on 16 July.

The race in Baku in Azerbaijan has been moved back a week to 25 June to avoid a clash with the Le Mans 24 Hours.

At the meeting, the FIA also said it had identified 11 corners at circuits around the world where changes needed to be made to ensure there was no controversy about drivers gaining advantage by going off the track.

This was a major issue at last month's Mexican Grand Prix, where there was a debate about incidents involving Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

It is likely that this will be dealt with by installing steep 'sausage kerbs' that slow cars down if they go off track.

2017 calendar in full

26 March Australia (Melbourne)

9 April China (Shanghai)

16 April Bahrain (Sakhir)

30 April Russia (Sochi)

14 May Spain (Barcelona)

28 May Monaco

11 June Canada (Montreal)

25 June Azerbaijan (Baku)

9 July Austria (Spielberg)

16 July Britain (Silverstone)

30 July Hungary (Budapest)

27 August Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

3 September Italy (Monza)

17 September Singapore (Marina Bay)

1 October Malaysia (Sepang)

8 October Japan (Suzuka)

22 October USA (Austin)

29 October Mexico (Mexico City)

12 November Brazil (Sao Paulo)*

26 November Abu Dhabi

* = to be confirmed

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix 2016 Race Results & Highlights (Rosberg wins F1 title as Hamilton triumphs in Abu Dhabi)

Relief: Rosberg has been racing in Formula 1 for a decade before taking his first title

Nico Rosberg won his first Formula 1 world title despite Lewis Hamilton disobeying Mercedes orders not to back his team-mate into rivals.

Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi GP driving slowly in an attempt to bring other drivers into the battle, knowing he needed Rosberg to finish below third.

Hamilton was repeatedly told to speed up but told the team: "Let us race."

Rosberg came under pressure from Sebastian Vettel but managed to hold the Ferrari driver to finish second.

Rows over the radio

Hamilton controlled the race from the front but was under instruction from Mercedes management not to try any strategic games to delay Rosberg.

However, he disregarded message after message to speed up and prevent Vettel and Red Bull's Max Verstappen from closing on Rosberg.

The German in turn complained on the radio to the team to "consider doing something" and the tense title battle will do nothing to improve the cool relationship between the two drivers.

Full Race Highlights

At one point, as Vettel homed in on Rosberg in the closing laps, Mercedes executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe, who rarely speaks to the drivers on the radio, told Hamilton: "Lewis, this is Paddy. We need you to pick up the pace to win this race."

Hamilton replied: "I'm in the lead right now. I'm quite comfortable where I am."

But his tactics were not enough and Rosberg whooped with delight as he crossed the line and after his wife Viviane congratulated him over the radio, did doughnut spins on the pit straight before climbing on to the nose of the car to take the cheers from the crowd.

"It's a childhood dream come true," Rosberg said over the radio. "Thank you for everything."

After the drama of the race, Hamilton congratulated Rosberg on his world championship and the two men embraced and shook hands on the podium.

Rosberg is the second son of an F1 champion to win the title himself. Here's father Keke winning his back in 1982. Diana Ross did not actually finish on the podium

Rosberg said he had not decided whether to take the number one on his car as is his right next year or whether to stick with the number six, which he chose as his race number because his father Keke won the 1982 world title with it.

And 34 years later, Vettel had the honour of celebrating with Rosberg on the podium. Source: Forix

The Rosbergs are only the second family in which a father and son have won the F1 world title, after Graham and Damon Hill.

A very tense race

Rosberg started the race 12 points ahead of Hamilton and knew a finish on the podium would be enough to secure the championship regardless of what Hamilton did.

Initially looked like he would be able to cruise to an easy climax to the best season of his career, but it did not take long for the tension to mount.

Hamilton and Rosberg both made good starts to convert first and second places on the grid into a one-two from the start.

But the difficult moments for Rosberg began when he came out from his first pit stop behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

After a spin at the first corner of the race, the Red Bull driver recovered ground quickly and, running a long first stint as a prelude to a one-stop race, ended up in second place behind Hamilton after the leaders had finished their first pit stops.

Rosberg came out right behind Verstappen, and was also under pressure from behind from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Ricciardo attacked Raikkonen intermittently, without managing a pass, but Rosberg was able to stay out of the Ferrari's reach and the Finn never got close enough to try the same to the Mercedes.

Rosberg shows he can overtake

Rosberg tried to pass Verstappen two laps after his pit stop but the Dutchman defended aggressively and the championship leader decided discretion was the better part of valour and sat back looking after his tyres.

Nico and his wife Vivian receive the champagne showers treatment

However, as Verstappen's stint grew longer and longer, Mercedes realised they were at risk of losing second place to him because he could make his one stop for tyres and still come out in front.

Rosberg was told on lap 19 that passing the Red Bull was "critical" and he responded by passing Verstappen on the next lap to take the second place he would hold to the end.

While Hamilton's glum expression told the story of the outcome of the title fight

Hamilton continued to lap only just as fast as he needed, balancing his vain hope that other drivers might be able to get among the two Mercedes with instructions from his team not to drive too slowly and force the issue.

Vettel: 'Lewis playing dirty tricks'

As the race progressed, Hamilton went slower and slower and the team began to worry that a one-two was at risk.

This ensured Verstappen was never more than about three seconds behind, with Ricciardo closing on him and, in the final stint, Vettel attacking both.

With 11 laps to go, Hamilton was warned to pick up the pace because Vettel was an "imminent threat".

At the time, Vettel was running in fifth place but was closing rapidly on Verstappen and Ricciardo in third and fourth places because the four-time champion had done a long middle stint and fitted super-soft tyres for his final stint, while the others were on the more durable but slower soft tyres.

He passed both but was not quite close enough on the last lap to make an attack on Rosberg work.

"It was a tricky situation at the end with Lewis playing dirty tricks," Vettel said to his team as they congratulated him over the radio.

"It was tough out there. I didn't want to be an issue. But at the end I was thinking maybe to try to pass both of them but it didn't work out."

Hamilton denied using dirty tricks to hamper Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton on pole position for Abu Dhabi title decider

Lewis Hamilton took a stunning pole position for the decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but Nico Rosberg remains on course for the title.

The German, who needs only to finish in the top three on Sunday to win the world championship, qualified second fastest, 0.303 seconds behind Hamilton.

Hamilton needs two other cars between himself and Rosberg on Sunday, but Mercedes' rivals were off their pace.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was third, but 0.834secs slower than Hamilton. READ MORE...

Lewis Hamilton top in Brazilian Grand Prix second practice

Lewis Hamilton topped both Friday practice sessions at the start of a Brazilian Grand Prix weekend that is critical to his title hopes this year.

He must beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg because the German will clinch the championship if he wins on Sunday.

Hamilton was 0.03 seconds quicker than Rosberg over one flying lap and also had a clear advantage on longer runs.

Mercedes' closest rivals were the Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Read More...

Lewis Hamilton keeps F1 title race alive with Brazilian Grand Prix win

Lewis Hamilton produced a masterful performance to win a wet, chaotic, crash-strewn Brazilian Grand Prix and take the title fight to the final race.

His ninth win of 2016 came in a race with several high-speed accidents, two stoppages and five safety cars.

The victory cut the lead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who finished second, to 12 points.

Rosberg will secure the championship if he finishes third in Abu Dhabi on 27 November even if Hamilton wins.

Hamilton legendary, whether he is champion this year or not

As one of the most dramatic races for years unfolded, Hamilton was supreme at the front in treacherous conditions, lapping consistently faster than anyone.

After each restart, Hamilton cruised easily away from Rosberg - building at one stage an 18-second lead in 14 laps before another safety car cut his lead to nothing.

His victory is the 52nd of his career, making him the second most successful race winner of all time ahead of Alain Prost (51). Michael Schumacher is way ahead on 91.

"Not too bad, huh," said Hamilton. "I was generally just chilling up front. When it rains it's usually a good day for me. It was tricky for everyone. There were definitely opportunities for aquaplaning, which everyone did.

"No mistakes, no issues, no spins. It was kind of interesting to hear how many people were spinning, but I didn't have that problem.

"I have always wanted to win since I watched Ayrton [Senna] win here in 1991. It has taken me a long time to get here and it is a historic day for me. To stand on the podium in Brazil where Ayrton was so loved was really special."

Rosberg said: "Lewis just did a great job. It was very difficult conditions and I can live with second for sure."

Hamilton wins in Mexican Grand Prix to keep title chase alive (Race Results and Highlights)

Lewis Hamilton kept his title hopes alive with a comfortable victory from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton survived a scare at the start, when he ran wide at the first corner after locking a front tyre.

But otherwise he was untroubled en route to his 51st career win.

In the championship, the result changes little, and Rosberg can win the title by finishing second to Hamilton at the last two races of the season.

Hamilton is 19 points adrift with a total of 50 available in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Rosberg can now regroup after a weekend on which Hamilton was in almost total control throughout.

The German will doubtless keep to his well-worn mantra that he is taking it one race at a time and trying to win each one, but he has the luxury of knowing he can afford to take it easy in both remaining races and clinch his first world title.

Both Mercedes take to the grass

Rosberg also had a scare, and a more eventful race than Hamilton, as 120,000 fans had little to excite them under blue skies and warm sunshine in Mexico City, until some frantic and bad-tempered late action in a battle over third place between Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton spent the first stint controlling his pace to ensure he did not overwork his damaged tyre, while Rosberg was under pressure from Verstappen.

Rosberg and the Dutchman had collided at the first corner as Verstappen tried to take second place, Rosberg taking to the grass behind Hamilton after the collision.

Heart in mouth: Hamilton locked a wheel and went wide at the first corner

The incident was investigated by the stewards but given the all-clear.

Verstappen's audacious overtake attempt

It was a foretaste of what was to come.

As Hamilton controlled the race - on the way to a victory that puts him equal with Alain Prost in second place in the all-time winners' list, with Michael Schumacher way ahead on 91 - Rosberg spent much of the afternoon watching his mirrors for Verstappen.

There was stalemate for a long time, until Rosberg locked up into Turn One on lap 50 while trying to lap Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz.

Verstappen saw his opportunity and dived down the inside into Turn Four. Although he was briefly ahead, he could not stop in time and ran wide, sliding across the track on opposite steering lock, and Rosberg regained the place.

It was Verstappen's one and only chance. Once he was back up to speed, the gap was out to 2.5 seconds and Rosberg edged gently away for the rest of the race.

Listen: Rosberg survives Verstappen lunge

Red Bull's bold gamble fails

Red Bull's gamble of starting on the super-soft tyres to try to mix it with the Mercedes did not really pay off, but it led to a dramatic battle in the closing laps.

Instead of challenging Rosberg, Verstappen found himself under pressure in the closing laps from Vettel and Ricciardo.

Vettel started on the soft tyre like the Mercedes and ran a very long 33-lap first stint, leading for 16 laps after Hamilton's first stop.

Hamilton is now joint second in the all-time winners' list

That gave him tyres that were 20 laps fresher than Verstappen's for the final stint and he closed in inexorably until he was within 1.2secs with six laps to go.

Verstappen the villain

Verstappen locked up at the first corner on lap 68 and ran wide over the grass, cutting the corner and keeping hold of third place, the German complaining he should be given the position as Verstappen was advised by his team to hand it over.

But Verstappen kept fighting as Vettel tried to pass, the four-time world champion claiming the Dutchman was backing him into Ricciardo, who fought back through the field after a first-lap stop put him on a two-stop strategy.

"Max, look! I've got your trophy." Vettel celebrates his podium after Verstappen's demotion, but his delight would be short-lived

The three were nose to tail at the start of the penultimate lap and Vettel was right on the edge in holding Ricciardo back as he tried to pass into Turn Four.

The incident spread the gap between the three cars and Verstappen crossed the line in third, from Vettel and Ricciardo.

But Verstappen's cutting of the first corner was investigated by the stewards on the grounds he might have gained an advantage by leaving the track and in dramatic scenes Verstappen was given a five-second penalty immediately after the race and was demoted to fifth.

Listen: Verstappen loses podium place with time penalty

Verstappen was forced to leave the pre-podium room as Vettel ran to take up his place on the podium.

However, in a further twist, Vettel then lost third place after becoming the first driver to be punished under a new dangerous driving rule for his defence against Ricciardo's attempted pass.

Vettel was penalised 10 seconds for moving while in the braking zone and given two penalty points on his licence - ending up fifth and Ricciardo eventually being classified as third.

Furious Vettel rants at F1 referee

Vettel had earlier fumed over the radio, using several expletives in telling his team how unhappy he was with race director Charlie Whiting.

He and Verstappen then gesticulated at each other after crossing the line, Vettel wagging his finger at Verstappen.

Listen: Vettel furious as Hamilton cruises to win

What they said on the podium

Lewis Hamilton: "This is honestly the best crowd we get anywhere. In our home country it is always great, but these guys have such a great passion.

"I love it here. I have had tacos every night.

"Nico is doing a great job. I'm really grateful the team did a great job."

Sebastian Vettel on his clash with Verstappen: "I was using a lot of sign language. You have to understand the adrenaline.

"Then obviously he left the track and didn't move and so you can understand why I was annoyed. I was really disappointed when I crossed the line."

"Vettel said WHAT to Charlie?!?" Some of the marshals donned face paint to celebrate Mexico's Day of the Dead

Many of Mexico's thousands of fans are Ferrari supporters, as well as getting behind home favourite Sergio Perez

United States GP 2016 Race Result and Highlights (Hamilton takes 50th career F1 win).

That's better: Hamilton had not won since the German Grand Prix in July

Lewis Hamilton cut his championship points deficit to Nico Rosberg as he cruised to a comfortable victory in the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton's first win since the German Grand Prix in July puts him 26 points behind his Mercedes team-mate with 75 available in the remaining three races.

Rosberg finished second after recovering a position lost to Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo at the start.

The Australian finished third ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

The world champion has now won 50 races in his career, with only Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (91) having won more than that number in the history of the sport.

 F1 2016 US GP: RACE START + First Lap!

Hamilton still has work to do

Hamilton's long-awaited and much-needed victory halts the momentum Rosberg had built up since the summer break, since which the German has taken four victories in five races.

Race Result

But the Englishman is still up against it - the mathematics of the championship situation are that Rosberg is still able to tie up the title by finishing second to Hamilton in the final three races - Mexico next weekend, and then Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton has now won five times in the United States, sharing that accomplishment with only one other - Michael Schumacher. Source: Forix

But Hamilton can only do what is within his control, and he grabbed this weekend by the scruff of the neck from first practice and never let go.

An excellent pole position was followed by a solid start, a lead into the first corner and a dominant victory, in which he lost the lead only through the first pit-stop period.

Ricciardo celebrates another successful attempt to get a celebrity - this time Gerard Butler - to drink from his shoe on the podium

Listen again as Hamilton wins: 

"All I can do is do my best," said Hamilton. "Nico has been driving fantastically well all season but I will keep going."

Luck still going Rosberg's way

Rosberg also made a decent start, but his focus on Hamilton into the first corner gave Ricciardo the chance to challenge the Mercedes driver and the Red Bull took second around the outside of the fast kink of Turn Two.

Ricciardo held a de facto second through the first pit stop period, and then made an early final pit stop for medium tyres on lap 25 of 56.

He would have hoped to get second place back from Rosberg when the German made his second and final pit stops a few laps later.

Lewis Hamilton was a guest on the American talkshow programme The Ellen Degeneres Show earlier this week

But then Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen suffered a gearbox failure.

That brought out the virtual safety car for more than a lap as the marshals recovered the Red Bull and that gave the Mercedes team a chance to get a "free" pit stop for both cars, and allowed Rosberg to retain second place.

FULL RACE HIGHLIGHTS

Ricciardo expressed his frustration in swear words over the radio but realised there was nothing he could do.

F1: Valtteri Bottas to remain at Williams with Lance Stroll promoted

Valtteri Bottas will stay at Williams in 2017 as the team promote Canadian rookie Lance Stroll as his team-mate.

Bottas, who has raced for Williams since his debut in 2013, had been of interest to Renault but BBC Sport has learned he will not be moving.

Stroll, who is 18 this month, won this year's European Formula 3 title and has been prepared for his graduation with a series of tests in old Williams cars.

Stroll's father is Canadian billionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll.

Williams' Formula 1 line-up is to be announced in the days following next weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.

A Williams spokeswoman refused to comment.

Finland's Bottas has emerged as one of the leading members of the new generation of drivers in F1.

Stroll is regarded as having potential but his path to an F1 seat has also been eased by him bringing millions of pounds of budget to the team in return for a drive.

Renault are now the only major team without a confirmed driver line-up for 2017.

Nico Hulkenberg's decision to join them from Force India was announced last week but the identity of his team-mate has not yet been decided.

The leading contenders are considered to be Renault's current driver Kevin Magnussen and their reserve driver, the Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who is currently racing for Manor.

Ocon is contracted to Mercedes, who loaned him to Renault this year, and they may instead prefer him to race a car with one of their engines at Force India.

Renault's other 2016 race driver, Jolyon Palmer, is also a possibility at Force India and has an outside chance of retaining his position at his current team.

Watch the United States Grand Prix Live Stream