Lewis Hamilton has defended his Mercedes team despite suffering yet more reliability issues during the Russian GP, which he believes ended his chances of an unlikely race victory. Hamilton, who started the race in 10th because of an engine failure, recovered to P2 and at one stage cut eventual winner Nico Rosbergs gap out in front to seven seconds.However, after a warning from his Mercedes team, Hamilton then had to ease off because of a water pressure issue with less than 20 laps to go. Toto Wolff branded fans who peddled conspiracy theories regarding Hamiltons reliability before the race as lunatics, and the world champion was later asked whether he thought the team were prioritising his team-mate after Rosberg enjoyed another trouble-free afternoon as he extended his championship lead to 43 points. Rosberg extends title lead Nico over forty points clear of Lewis after Sochi victory From my side of the garage the mechanics are having a hard time, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. But I have absolutely every bit of confidence and faith in them.The majority were on Nicos car last year and Nicos guys were with me for the last three years since i joined. The team all of a sudden swapped for no apparent reason. Toto Wolff has strongly denied claims from some fans that Mercedes are sabotaging Lewis Hamiltons season But thats not the reason were having these issues, theyre somewhere else. I dont know where the issues are coming from but for sure the team and guys in the background, they need to work hard to try and rectify these.We were doing 800 kilometers a day in testing and the car was almost seen as bullet-proof. Then, all of sudden were having all these problems. But dont jump the gun, that [prioritising Rosberg] hasnt happened in the last three years and I dont believe theres any reason for that to happen now.Mercedes team boss Wolff claims that Rosberg was also struggling with reliability issues during the race, with his power unit offering up some strange signals. Hamilton may be happy with more damage limitation after enduring a near-nightmare weekend in Sochi, but he believes he was on course to end the Germans winning streak before the issue with his engine occured.It happened, I just had to try and nurse it home Im glad it finished, Hamilton, who battled past Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas, added. It was a problem leading to a failure. Weve got a long way to go with not so many engines, so we just need to do a better job.There wasnt a doubt in my mind that I couldnt win it, I had the pace. But I had a problem with the engine so I had to back off. I wasnt at full throttle down the straights.I have no idea how critical the engine was, there was no indication for me in the car. But I had to slow down. Rosberg, on the other hand, has now won seven consecutive races - four this season - and sealed his first ever F1 career grand slam after sealing Sochi pole, race win and setting the fastest lap of the afternoon, a track record.He still hasnt completed a competitive overtake all season and led from start to finish in Russia, but still maintains that his colleague will come back stronger.Lewis is going to come back, of course, Rosberg said. Hes on it and more motivated than ever. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade Also See: Report: Rosberg wins ahead of Hamilton WATCH: Vettel rages at Kvyat Jerseys NFL Cheap . With the suspension, Nigeria is unable to take part in any kind of international fixtures. FIFA had issued a warning to the NFF last week after the federation was served with court proceedings from the government that prevented the NFFs president from running the NFFs day-to-day affairs. Jerseys NFL Authentic China . Paul George and Darren Collison each scored 17 points and Roy Hibbert added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (9-3), who won their third straight. http://www.jerseysnflwholesalenike.com/ . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Jerseys Cheap . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Jerseys China Sale . -- The Denver Broncos retired John Elways No. SAITAMA, Japan -- European champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte received 69.70 points to finish first in the short program. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., trailed by half a point. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third on 68.20. "This is definitely where we want to be, in the attacking position of the top spot, because we feel that we put great work into this season especially and we want to end on a high note and put out two solid performances," said Poje. Torontos Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were 10th with 59.42 points. Alexandra Paul of Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., scored 57.68 points for 11th place heading into Saturdays free dance. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, the top-ranked Russians, were forced to withdraw after Soloviev injured his groin in the morning practice. Defending champions and Olympic gold medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States were not taking part. The ice dance concludes on Saturday with the free dance. Japanese teenager Yuzuru Hanyu came back with a brilliant free skate to become the first man in 12 years on Friday to win the Olympic and world figure skating titles in the same year. The 19-year-old Hanyu, who trailed compatriot Tatsuki Machida by nearly seven points after the world championships short program, produced a near-flawless free skate to finish with 282.59 points, just three-tenths of a point ahead of Machida. Javier Fernandez of Spain was third with 275.93. "That was very close," Hanyu said. "I work hard to become a skater who can always end with strong performances. I felt the responsibility to win the event." Hanyu fell twice during the free skate at the Sochi Olympics but had no falls on Friday. Skating to "Romeo and Juliet," he opened with a quad salchow and followed with a quad toeloop. His only deduction came onn the triple flip and he got extra points on five straight jumps.dddddddddddd The mens Olympic-worlds double was last achieved by Alexei Yagudin in 2002. Machida captured his first major medal with a graceful performance to Stravinskis "Firebird." "I showed everything I have at this moment," Machida said. "I tried to perform without caring about the score or ranking but it got into my head and I had a really tough four minutes." Fernandez, who was fourth in Sochi, was deducted points when he singled a planned triple lutz. "I popped the triple lutz," Fernandez said. "And I didnt do my quad salchow triple toeloop combination, but still it was a good program even though Yuzuru did better than me." Maxim Kotvun of Russia was fourth followed by Jeremy Abbott of the United States. Canadian Patrick Chan, who had won the last three world titles, decided to skip this years competition. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was the top Canadian in 11th place. Its been a tough season for Reynolds, who struggled with ill-fitting skates for several months. "The whole season was a giant learning experience, and I can take from that knowing I can still skate my best even though Im not feeling even close to where Id like to be in terms of being comfortable and being ready, being prepared," said Reynolds. "What I can take away from this is that even if Im not feeling 100 per cent, I know that I can still do the job, and that should give me confidence when I do feel good." World junior champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto was 12th while Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 18th. "Skating in front of 20,000 plus people, its amazing," said the 15-year-old Nguyen. "Im not intimidated at all. Im very excited to skate for them. I love to hear them cheer for me. I just want them to skate with me." -- With files from The Canadian Press ' ' '