Mercedes has confirmed Nico Rosberg's retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix was caused after a "foreign substance" contaminated the electronic circuits in his steering column.
Investigations have been taking place at Mercedes since Rosberg's retirement, which came after he failed to start for the formation lap and spent the opening stages of the laps struggling to pass Marcus Ericsson and Max Chilton. Mercedes said the contamination had not been visible throughout the weekend and only manifested itself in the moments before the race as Rosberg prepared to head out on track.
In a series of tweets, Mercedes went on to confirm the result was an intermittent short circuit in the electronics meaning Rosberg "could not command clutch or engine settings." Mercedes will bring fresh parts to forthcoming races as a result.
Mercedes executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe elaborated further, saying: "[Rosberg's retirement] was down to the failure of a part which we have been running faultlessly since its introduction six years ago and so demonstrates the challenge of ensuring reliability in a modern Formula One car."
In the aftermath of Singapore, both Rosberg and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called on the team to make reliability a priority as the team closes in on both the constructors' and drivers' titles.
Read more at
http://en.espnf1.com/mercedes/motorsport/story/176949.html#mmSwG1Mw8l0RsMph.99
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