Lewis Hamilton wary of another retirement as he looks to pin back Rosberg in Italy

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he cannot afford another retirement this season if he has any chance of beating Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg to the world title.

The pair will race at Monza this weekend, two weeks after Rosberg clipped Hamilton and forced him to pull out of the Belgian Grand Prix.

"Twenty-nine points is quite a big margin to make up, but there are still seven races to go, still 200 points available," Hamilton wrote on his official website.

"I'm feeling great coming into Monza, but there have been so many races in a row now that I have come to feeling positive, knowing I need a good weekend, and then something has happened. The brakes have gone, or the car has set on fire. Then there was the last race, when I got taken out.

"Nico and I haven't spoken about the fact that in terms of the championship he can afford a collision and I can't. But to be honest it has been the same all year, ever since I retired from the first race and he won it."

Hamilton now stands 29 points behind the German with seven races to run.