Mercedes have hit back at the conspiracy theories over Lewis Hamiltons 2016 breakdowns, insisting claims of sabotage would be dismissed by anyone with an ounce of intelligence. The remarks constitute the teams strongest rebuttal yet to the outpouring of innuendo and accusation on social media in the wake of Hamiltons engine blow-out when leading the Malaysia GP.If we were good enough to arrange such sabotage, we wouldnt have any failures, responded technical chief Paddy Lowe. F1 is a tough business. The engineering operates right at the boundaries of performance so things do go wrong. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence analysing the situation would realise that the prospect of us designing a piece of equipment to fail at that precise moment… if we were that good we would be able to control everything.Lowe also gave short shrift to suggestions the team, owned by a German company, favoured Nico Rosberg for this years world championship.If we invent something that makes us quicker then of course we want it in both cars because we want to win the race, he said. We never hold back and never contemplate it. Anyone who is intelligent can work it out. Lewis Hamilton’s engine fails while leading the Malaysia GP Hamilton said immediately after his Sepang setback that he suspected someone was working against him, but later clarified he meant the man above or any higher power is intervening a little bit.Upon his arrival in Suzuka for this weekends Japanese GP, the world champion added: We dont know where bad luck comes from but thats all we can depend on - the fact that its just bad luck.A concurring Rosberg told Sky Sports F1: Some of the things he said…l wouldnt take too seriously because when you are in such a moment you can go a bit extreme! Hamilton has come under fire after spending the majority of Thursdays pre-Japanese GP drivers press conference on his phone But while Mercedes have been at pains to insist that the dice has not been loaded against Hamilton, the team admit they have no explanation for why the dice keeps landing against him.We are all rational people, certainly in the engineering area, and we all know that you can throw three double sixes in a row. That is possible. Yet when you see it done, you think how was that done? and we have something like that with Lewis, said Lowe.We have eight power units out there running around and with the exception of one failure they [engine malfunctions] have fallen on Lewis. That is something none of us can understand. But its just the way dice has been thrown.We are gutted about it and just wish the luck hadnt fallen that way. Personally, I was only just getting over the consecutive failures he had in qualifying at the start of the year where statistically you felt he had been treated very, very unfairly.Meanwhile, there was less than a tenth of a second between Hamilton and Rosberg in Friday practice for the Japanese GP. They are both in great shape, concluded Lowe. Also See: Rosberg just ahead of Hamilton Horner warns Renault off Sainz What do F1 drivers listen to? The Formula 1 Gossip column Cheap Kevin Durant Shoes . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major. Clearance Kevin Durant Shoes . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. 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Kevin Durant Shoes From China . -- Canadian womens amateur golf champion Brooke Henderson is a little less starstruck as she prepares for her second career appearance at an LPGA Tour major event.NEW YORK -- David Sterns NBA owners gathered one last time, toasting the outgoing commissioner before he leaves after 30 years on the job. They also changed back one of the earliest changes Stern made. Leaving with Stern is the NBA Finals format he implemented in his first full year on the job, one that alleviated travel concerns but critics felt also gave an advantage to the lower-seeded team. Beginning with the 2014 finals, the higher-seeded team will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower seed gets Games 3, 4 and 6, following the same format the NBA uses in all other rounds. The NBA for the previous 29 years has used whats referred to as the 2-3-2 format, in which the higher seed hosts the first two games, then goes on the road for three straight. The 2-3-2 format was instituted in 1985 in part to ease the amount of cross-country travel with the Celtics and Lakers frequently meeting for the championship. But some felt it also worked against the team that should have the advantage. "There certainly was a perception ... it was unfair to the team that had the better record, that it was then playing the pivotal Game 5 on the road. So this obviously moves that game back to giving home-court advantage to the team with the better record if its a 2-2 series," Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. The unanimous vote to approve the 2-2-1-1-1 format came Wednesday during Sterns final preseason meeting with his board of governors. Owners also voted to add an extra day between Games 6 and 7. The leagues competition committee had recommended the change last month back to 2-2-1-1-1, which was used in all but one finals from 1957 to 1984. Stern has often said he was acting on advice -- or complaints -- about the travel from former Celtics boss Red Auerbach when the finals format was switched. But with commercial flights long since replacedd by charters, teams didnt have the same difficulties now with the number of trips.dddddddddddd Instead, the ones who had the higher seed found it more inconvenient, Stern said, to be on the road for as many as eight days in a row when the opponent hosted the middle three games. Silver, who will become commissioner after Stern retires Feb. 1, is a proponent of the 2-2-1-1-1 format, though he said Stern and other league executives all thought it was time for the change. "It reached a crescendo where basketball people thought it was important and the business people stood down and said it was no longer necessary for the convenience of transportation or the media," Silver said. Beyond the re-election of Spurs owner Peter Holt as chairman, there was little other business for the owners, who toasted Stern during dinner Tuesday night. Stern said there was a video tribute voiced by Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, along with "some speechifying" and "a series of totally embarrassing photos of me over the last 36 years." "I got the opportunity to thank my colleagues at the NBA for their incredible work and saying how pleased I was that the league was in such good hands under those colleagues and Adams stewardship," Stern said. The owners were also presented with a Stern bobblehead doll. The commissioner said Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert joked that unlike most bobbleheads whose heads nod up and down, Sterns only moves side to side as if shaking its head no. "Its been a great opportunity," Stern said. "Believe it or not, even including my interaction with the media and the burns that come from being a lightning rod, its been a great run, and Im grateful to the owners for giving me the opportunity." ' ' '