- Singapore GP - Race
Rosberg retirement due to wiring loom failure
A failure of the steering column wiring loom on Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was to blame for the reliability issues that eventually forced him to retire from the Singapore Grand Prix.
Rosberg had trouble before the race had even started, with the problems requiring work from Mercedes in the garage and while his car was lined up on the front row of the grid. His car did not leave the grid for the formation lap, meaning Rosberg had to start from the pits, but his ongoing issues meant he struggled to get past back-markers Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson.
Rosberg eventually called it a day but said he knew the race was over from the beginning.
"It was a horrible feeling to see everyone go because then I knew it was over," Rosberg said. "Then the whole steering wheel wasn't working so I had no hybrid power and was shifting two gears at a time and had no DRS, so the car just wasn't working at all. And then there was just no point in continuing. So a tough day really.
"I was going as fast as possible but the car… definitely I was fighting, full speed and full attack, but there was no way to attack; no DRS, no hybrid power, no fourth gear, no sixth gear. I only had third, fifth and seventh."
Rosberg says he is baffled by the issues because the car had been fine until the moment he stepped into it prior to the race.
"[It started] As I got in the car in the garage. They'd sat in the car five times just before I got in, doing all sort of checks, everything was OK, then I get in the car and it didn't work anymore - which is crazy. The dash was working, gearshift paddles were working, and that's it. No clutch, nothing else - just gearshift, dash and lights. It's strange, some things were working, some things weren't.
"Until they switched my car off and pulled me in the garage I still believe I could have a good race. At the moment I'm just disappointed with today. I want to begin to understand with the team went wrong."
When asked what Toto Wolff said to him when, after his retirement, he put his arm around him in the garage, Rosberg replied: "He said 'sorry', which is a nice gesture of course, a good gesture, because these things shouldn't happen."
Mercedes later confirmed the problem was related to a broken loom in the steering wheel.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
