Lewis Hamilton says he will continue to fight despite suffering yet more bad luck, with a second ERS failure in as many races costing him a shot at challenging team-mate Nico Rosberg for victory.
In China a fortnight previously Hamilton couldn't even participate in qualifying and started from the back of the grid. In Russia he managed to get himself through to Q3, but couldn't take part in the session and qualified tenth, but could start lower if Mercedes need to replace parts of his power unit.
Hamilton, who is 36 points behind team-mate Rosberg – a gap that could grow on Sunday as Rosberg starts from pole – has vowed to keep fighting, admitting there's "nothing I can do" about the failures.
"It’s obviously not a great feeling to be on the sidelines again – but that’s life," said Hamilton.
"I feel helpless for my guys, because there's not much I can do to uplift them, and there's not really much they can do to uplift me, because it's happened. The goal is moving further and further away in the distance.
"I’ve never been superstitious about these things, though, and I never will be. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll move on and look ahead to the race. I don’t know where I’m going to start yet – we’ll wait to see how that unfolds. But I never give up and I’ll give it all I’ve got to recover whatever I can in the race, like always."
Hamilton however admits it will be difficult to make up places in the race as the track doesn't promote overtaking.
"It’s not an easy track for overtaking. With the levels of tyre degradation and it being so tough to follow here, it’s not going to be easy to make my way forward. But there are long straights and we’ve got good pace, so if I can keep the car in one piece I’ll be fighting for decent points I’m sure."
