Having allowed Nico Rosberg to extend his championship lead in Baku, Lewis Hamilton now fears the engine rules will cost him any hope of a third successive title.

The Briton will have a new engine for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, but in the process reaches the limit in terms of two of the component of which five are allowed before penalties are applied.

"I'm starting with my last power unit this weekend," he told reporters as the Austrian Grand Prix weekend got underway.

"I will have at least one race where I start dead last, most likely two," he added, "as I will need a sixth and even a seventh engine.

"The worst thing is that I'm the only Mercedes driver to have had that," he continued, referring to his poor reliability record this year.

"Considering that we are the Mercedes team, if there are forty engines you would hope we have the best of the forty but that's just the way it goes," he added, emphasising the fact that he drives for the works team. "Everyone else is on their normal plan and have four engines left. But there's nothing I can do about it, it is what it is. I just have to do the best I can with the one I have now and the one or two I get beyond that."

"I hope Mercedes learn from it and from the faults on mine," he said. "I will find out where I will take that penalty or penalties. I will try to look upon a circuit where I might be able to get furthest up, closest, or maybe a track where I might be able to catch up and even challenge for a win, that's my thought process. I have to go into it thinking I can still win it. There could be safety cars, could be all sorts of things."

Team boss Toto Wolff was unable to offer much encouragement to the Briton.

"I think it's inevitable that he will get a penalty at a certain stage, and it really pisses me off," admitted the Austrian. "I wouldn't say there will be two.

"The guys are so revved up," he added, "Andy Cowell is so motivated to sort it out, and I have zero doubts that they will sort it out."

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