Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has no interest in succeeding chief executive Bernie Ecclestone at the helm of Formula One, Niki Lauda has claimed.
Wolff moved to Mercedes from Williams in 2013 and has overseen an impressive run of success, with the team on course to win the driver and constructor titles for a third straight year.
Wolff, 44, has been touted as a possible replacement for Ecclestone, whose role is shrouded in uncertainty following Liberty Media's recent acquisition of the sport from CVC Capital Partners.
But Mercedes' non-executive chairman Lauda believes it is unlikely that Wolff will leave Formula One's all-conquering team.
"I doubt it because we are busy with our work here at Mercedes," Lauda, the three-time world champion, told Press Association Sport on Friday. "We have contracts, so there is no interest at all."
Ecclestone, who has been given a three-year deal by the sport's incoming owners, flanked new chairman Chase Carey in the Singapore Grand Prix paddock on Friday.
But it has been reported that the 85-year-old may choose to relinquish his role when Liberty's takeover is concluded in the early part of next year.
"Thank God Bernie stays to give us a proper transition which I think is the most important thing," Lauda added.
"The way it is handled until now is very good. This Liberty Media group, I know where they are coming from, and it is good for Formula One."
Meanwhile, championship leader Lewis Hamilton endured a troubled build-up to his weekend in Singapore after he was forced out of practice with a mechanical problem.
Nico Rosberg, who has moved to within two points of his Mercedes team-mate's title lead by virtue of winning both of Formula One's races following its summer break, set the fastest time under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
But Hamilton, 31, was only seventh, and more than one second adrift of his championship rival when the issue - which Mercedes confirmed as a hydraulic problem - saw the Briton watch the final 30 minutes of the second session from the back of the team's garage.
It marked a troubled day for Hamilton, who is bidding to bounce back from his slow start which gift-wrapped victory to Rosberg at Monza's Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago.
"They have fixed the valve and it is changed now, so it should be no problem tomorrow," Hamilton said.
"We are in a good position to go for pole position. Obviously Nico got a lot more running in, but hopefully it should not be a problem for us."
Source: PA
