Reliable Mercedes F1 car would be 'breath of fresh air' to Hamilton

Hamilton's engine failure while leading in Malaysia followed deployment issues that blunted his race in Baku, while he also started 10th in China and last in Russia following power-unit problems in qualifying.

Those issues also meant Hamilton had to take a grid penalty at Spa after the summer break, starting 21st, while team-mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg has been virtually untroubled.

Put to Hamilton that the law of averages suggested Rosberg was due for trouble in the final three races, Hamilton said: "So far it has been 100% reliable on his side.

"But often in seasons there can be 100% reliability on a car.

"Will that be the case on Nico's? Only time will tell. I can't get fixated on that.

"I have to focus on mine, and I am hoping for these last three I will have 100% reliability - that would be a real breath of fresh air.

"If so, then I will try and utilise that opportunity."

Hamilton secured the 50th win of his F1 career last Sunday in the United States Grand Prix, to close the gap to Rosberg back to 26 points, a margin that means Rosberg can still afford to finish second to Hamilton in each race and win the title.

Even Hamilton's Austin victory was not without issue, though, with Mercedes breaking curfew to change his fuel system on Friday evening, a move Mercedes' Toto Wolff described as "uber cautious" after seeing an anomaly in the practice data.

While he got through the 56-lap race, Hamilton said he backed off, "dreading" a repeat of what happened in Malaysia.

"It was the longest afternoon I can remember in my whole career, just thinking about getting to the end," said Hamilton.

"You are feeling all the vibrations through the engine from the RPM, through the rev range, through the gear shifts.

"I was trying to do less gear shifts though a lap to make the gearbox go longer than perhaps it wants to.

"The same with the engine - I wasn't doing 100% throttle down the straight - I was pulling it back to 90%, trying not to stretch it.

"For whatever reason it is more likely to happen on my car, so I was just trying to do everything to nurse it home."