Lewis Hamilton vows to fight until the "bitter end" in his quest to win a fourth Formula One world title, despite the odds being stacked against him.
After a devastating engine blowout while leading the Malaysian Grand Prix, and a poor start at the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton has recovered with wins in the United States and Mexico to keep his championship hopes alive.
"It's a great feeling when you're able to show the kind of pace I've shown at the past two races," Hamilton said. "Everyone has worked so hard and the car has really been faultless. The speed has been there all season -- I just haven't always had the opportunity to take advantage of it."
Despite his return to winning ways, the Briton trails his Mercedes teammate by 19 points heading to Brazil, where victory for Rosberg would seal the German's first F1 title. Even if Hamilton were to win the final two grands prix of the season, Rosberg could still wrap up the title with second and third place finishes.
"In terms of the championship, it's an unusual scenario to be in -- fighting for something and not knowing for sure that what you do will guarantee you're able to make it. One outcome would be painful and the other would be a great achievement.
"Regardless, I'm going to keep pushing. Since the beginning of my Formula One career I've seen that everything can change even at the very last moment, so you have to fight to the bitter end. I've never won in Brazil, so I go into this weekend focused on changing that."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the team is doing its upmost to ensure its drivers will be provided with equal opportunities in their title battle, confirming both have similar power unit mileage -- an area of major concern for Hamilton in 2016 following a number of failures on his W07.
"On mileage, in terms of the availability of strategy modes, they are pretty equal at the moment," Wolff explained. "They both had a bit of a worry on exhaust damage during the race [in Mexico]. Actually, also pretty even, so the same grey hair for both.
"As a team, we will do all in our power to provide both with the opportunities they need. We're maxed out on performance, as is normal at the end of a regulation cycle, and when that happens everything becomes more marginal. This is where we find ourselves right now, so we must remain focused on every last detail."