Niki Lauda is not in Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 finale.

Earlier, we reported that despite the Mercedes team chairman's closest paddock friends saying Lauda had targeted a comeback, he is in fact not well enough to be in Abu Dhabi.

'He's doing much better'

The 69-year-old had a lung transplant in early August and is currently in rehabilitation after a long stay in hospital.

READ: Lauda to miss Abu Dhabi comeback

"He's doing much better, but he just does not yet have the strength to be here," Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko, a close friend of Lauda's, told the German broadcaster RTL.