- Mercedes
Rosberg unfazed by Mercedes reliability
Nico Rosberg says he has an "inner trust" that Mercedes is going to overcome the reliability problems that saw him lose the championship lead in Singapore.
Having led the championship for all but one round heading into Singapore, Rosberg's early retirement, coupled with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton's win, saw him drop behind the Brit by three points in the standings. Rosberg called on Mercedes to make reliability a priority after Singapore but he insists it is not something he is losing sleep over.
"I'm not concerned," Rosberg said when asked about reliability. "Even though it is a little bit of a weakness for us but in the big picture we have done an awesome job this year. We mustn't now see this as a big problem for us as a team.
"It is a problem that we have but the big picture is the absolutely spectacular job that the team has done full stop. I'm not worried about reliability, I have this inner trust that the team is going to get the job done and so it's not something that I really think about at all."
Despite having spent the recent rounds defending a sizeable championship lead over Hamilton, Rosberg says nothing will change in his approach now he is behind.
"No, not at all. It was just a tough moment but time is the best cure for such things and there's been two weeks which is plenty of time in the racing world. For me it's completely forgotten. Now I'm here I'm just as optimistic and excited as I was before Singapore, and I'm just looking forward to it because I'm in Suzuka; I've never come to Suzuka - which is one of the best tracks of the year - with the best, dominant car.
"I've never had that before, so I'm coming here, I know I'll have a chance for pole on Saturday and a chance to win the race on Sunday. That's just a great feeling and that's it, that's just my state of mind at the moment."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
