Hamilton says 'reliability problems' with Merc 'heavily compromising' Malaysian GP preparations

Formula One reigning champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that reliability problems with his Mercedes has heavily compromised his preparations for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Hamilton, chasing an eighth win in nine races on Sunday, missed Friday's first session and some of the second but still clocked the fastest time. He said that whenever one loses a session, and pretty much half of the second, it definitely doesn't help.

But, the Briton added that the team did a great job to rebuild the car and that was crucial, the BBC reported.

Despite his problems, caused by a failure in the engine's inlet system and issues with telemetry, Hamilton was 0.428 seconds quicker than teammate Nico Rosberg, and admitted that that was good, for sure.

However, Hamilton said that he would head into final practice before qualifying on Saturday having not made any changes to his set-up, and said that the balance of the car had been quite a bit off from where he needs it.

Hamilton goes into Sunday's second race of the season seven points clear of likely title rival Rosberg, after the Mercedes drivers finished one-two in Australia two weeks ago.

Hamilton also said that Ferrari looked like being Mercedes's closest rivals after Kimi Raikkonen split him and Rosberg with the second fastest time and produced a strong race-simulation run. He said that the Ferraris look great, adding that it's surprising to see how good their times are.

Hamilton added that they would see whether that continues through the weekend.