Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have welcomed increased radio silence for the final six races of their dramatic duel for the drivers’ world championship.

But the airwave clampdown was criticised by Felipe Massa, the veteran Williams driver warning ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix that it could lead to a major accident.

Mercedes teammates’ Hamilton and Rosberg, who have fought an intense and sometimes acrimonious battle this year, will, like the rest of the pitlane, no longer have unrestricted radio contact with their teams.

This follows the ban on ‘performance-related’ radio communications by the sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA).

“All the fans are cheering so it looks like the right way to go,” said German Rosberg, who leads Hamilton by 22 points ahead of Singapore.

“In my opinion it’s definitely a good thing, because it’s just more pure racing. Until now we did so much based on what they (engineers) told us to do on the radio. Now it’s up to us.”

Hamilton agreed.

“I quite like the idea, but in some ways it makes it harder, like engine strategy – how are we to know what strategy to use?”

He added that the clampdown could affect the intense title battle between himself and Rosberg.

“I hope it’s a plus for me. I remember way back in karts, we didn’t have any data, so nobody could ever see where I was quick, anything I did, any trick I had.”

Massa offered a different view, explaining: “The team tells you not to use the tyres so much in corner five because you’re using them too much compared to your team-mate. This (no longer happeneing) is okay, this is not a problem.

“But you have so many things in the car that we’re doing because if you don’t do (them) maybe you put too much temperature in the rear brakes because the battery gets too high and you just put fire in the car. Maybe you can have a big accident…”

In a statement, the sport’s ruling body clarified the ban on technical information, saying that any “information concerning damage to the car” is allowed.