Championship leader Nico Rosberg plans to ‘play it safe’ in a bid to increase his 14 point title-race lead over Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

After cashing in on the Briton’s continuing bad luck in Saturday’s qualifying session when his car caught fire, Rosberg said he would try to avoid anything similar happening to him.

“It makes it easier for me, of course, because he is my competitor,” said Rosberg. “So, for me, It’s a free opportunity tomorrow.

“I need to play it safe and avoid any unnecessary things happening and get as many points as possible.”

Both drivers have suffered reliability issues in recent races and this, Rosberg admitted, is a cause of concern for him and the team ahead of a demanding contest, in hot conditions, at one of the slowest circuits.

But Rosberg said he was satisfied, for the team, that they had demonstrated again that they have the continuing performance advantage to take pole on a circuit with few straights.

“Our engine is definitely very, very strong and here the engine doesn’t come into play so much, so it shows how good our car is.”

Hamilton left the circuit early after his car burst into flames on his first qualifying lap, preventing him clocking a time. He will start from the back of the grid or the pit lane.

“I think it’s getting to the point beyond bad luck – it’s something else. We just need to do better,” he said.

Hamilton’s disappointment capped a bad few days of injury and upset for the team following their multiple pile-up while cycling in a group alongside the River Danube on Tuesday.

That resulted in several injured team members including commercial team chiefToto Wolff, who fractured his shoulder and collar bone. He was in a sling on Saturday.

Technical chief Paddy Lowe, who cracked ribs in the cycling crash, said: “I am absolutely gutted that we have let Lewis down again and given him such a tough job on another Sunday afternoon – so soon after his fantastic drive in Germany (where he also started way down).”