Mercedes have released a statement saying that a ‘foreign substance’ found in the steering column of Nico Rosberg’s car, caused a short circuit which led to the German’s retirement at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes found a problem just moments before the start of the race and tried to change Rosberg’s steering wheel to fix the issue, but it was an internal problem that finished his race off completely.
Rosberg’s retirement saw team-mate Lewis Hamilton take the lead in the drivers championship by three points, heading into next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Explaining the reasoning behind Rosberg’s DNF and the ultimate issue, Mercedes Tweeted: “Forensic analysis has revealed that the steering column electronic circuits were contaminated with a foreign substance.
“The contamination was not visible and did not manifest itself until Sunday as Nico went to the grid.
“The result was an intermittent short circuit in the electronic circuits meaning @nico_rosberg could not command clutch or engine settings.
“Fresh parts will be used at the forthcoming races. Our hard work on reliability processes will continue at the same intensive level.
“To clarify, the contaminant was a substance used in normal pre-event servicing of the component.”
