Gossip: Bottas, Alonso, Palmer, Hamilton, Schumacher

Valtteri Bottas is set for a move to Mercedes as he searches for his maiden F1 win

Sunday, 8 January

Valtteri Bottas is ready to register his first Formula 1 win, according to the 27-year-old's personal trainer Antti Vierula. (F1i.com)

Formula 1 reached its peak in the 2000s and the era of legendary drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost would be considered "boring" today, according to McLaren's Fernando Alonso. (Motorsport)

F1's new regulations, aiming to increase speeds by up to five seconds per lap, will "find out" the unfit drivers, according to Renault driver Jolyon Palmer. (Fox Sports Asia)

Michael Schumacher's son Mick says he wants to be an F1 world champion as he prepares to make the step up to European Formula 3. (Sunday Express)

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that Lewis Hamilton's retirement at the Malaysian Grand Prix cost the Briton the title. (Grand Prix Times)

Lewis Hamilton shared a picture from what he described as "paradise" as he celebrated his 32nd birthday

Force India can target third place in the constructors' championship after their fourth-place finish last season, according to deputy team principal Robert Fernley. (The Checkered Flag)

Saturday, 7 January

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said Silverstone should stop "complaining" about the cost of hosting the British Grand Prix. It comes after the race's future was put in doubt. (Daily Mail)

The Donington Park and Rockingham Motor Speedway circuits say they have no interest in improving their tracks to be eligible to replace Silverstone and stage the British GP. (Guardian)

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has called on the UK government to back the British Grand Prix financially to save the long-term future of the race. (Sporting Life)

New Force India driver Esteban Ocon, 20, says the team can finish in the top three in the constructors' championship in 2017. The team came fourth, their best ever position, last season. (Audo Hebdo, via f1i.com)

McLaren technical director Tim Goss thinks the new Formula 1 regulations will produce cars that look "mean" and "cool" for the 2017 season. (Motorsport.com)

Carlos Sainz Jr's father, Carlos Sainz, had a lucky escape after he suffered a dramatic crash in the Dakar Rally. Sainz Sr, 54, and co-driver Lucas Cruz escaped major injury, but the vehicle suffered too much damage to be repaired in time to continue in the competition. (Fox News)

Williams' Valtteri Bottas posted a picture of his training on Twitter. He wrote: "Five days, 12 training sessions, feeling great."

Friday, 6 January

Albert Park, the track for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, will have to be revised to accommodate the faster cars that will be introduced to the sport in 2017. (Motorsport)

The 2017 F1 season will be the first not to have a one-time team-mate of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on the grid - unless Felipe Massa completes a rumoured return to Williams. (Mobil 1 The Grid)

Jolyon Palmer is keen to repay the faith shown in him by Renault in his second year at the team. (Banbury Guardian)

Nico Hulkenberg's switch from Force India to Renault is seemingly paying dividends...

BBC commentator Jack Nicholls chatted F1 with basketball legend and platinum-selling rap artist Shaquille O'Neal...

A career in the sport was prohibited to 'Shaq Diesel' due to a slight size problem...

Thursday, 5 January

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says it would be "good for Formula 1" if the Schumacher name was to return to the sport. Mick Schumacher, the son of Michael Schumacher, has impressed in Formula 4. (Planet F1)

Ecclestone has also defended Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel after a poor 2016 season, saying the fault lies with the team not the German driver. (GrandPrix.com)

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo is getting in shape ahead of the new season

Former McLaren team boss Ron Dennis was involved in a public row with former England captain David Beckham on New Year's Eve in the Maldives. (The Sun)

Force India will launch their 2017 car on 22 February at Silverstone. (Force India)

Kimi Raikkonen says the Belgian Grand Prix track Spa-Francorchamps is his favourite circuit on the race calendar and Eau Rouge - of the same track- is his favourite corner. (F1i.com)

Nico Rosberg's former trainer Daniel Schlosser says he would be "very happy" to continue working with Mercedes but has ruled out working with driver Lewis Hamilton. (FoxSports)

Following Nico Hulkenberg's move from Force India to Renault and Nico Rosberg's retirement, Mercedes, Force India and Renault had this Twitter exchange on Thursday

Wednesday, 4 January

Mercedes will present their 2017 car at Silverstone on 23 February, saying they will "unveil the beast to the world" at the British Grand Prix circuit. (Reuters)

Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa says the engine supplier expected more from McLaren's 2016 campaign despite an improvement on a disastrous 2015 season. (Autosport)

Ferrari have questioned the legality of the Mercedes and Red Bull suspension systems in writing to F1's governing body, the FIA. (Grand Prix Times)

Those at Red Bull have gone back to work and they are in confident mood for the start of the new season, as this Instagram picture proves.

New Renault signing Nico Hulkenberg is unsure whether F1's rule changes for 2017 will achieve the aim of allowing drivers to push more in races. (Autosport)

Indonesian driver Rio Haryanto has suffered a major setback in his bid to return to F1 this season after state-owned energy company Pertamina announced it was ending its sponsorship. (Reuters)

There are no January blues for Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The driver posted on Twitter that he is "getting back into gear" for the new season