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The Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team has explained that a broken wiring loom inside the steering column was to blame for Nico Rosberg's retirement at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Drama struck when Rosberg tried leaving the garage ahead of the start of the race as none of the controls on the steering wheel was working.
The team's software engineers tried to fix the problem on the starting grid but failed to succeed.
Rosberg started the race from the pit lane but immediately hit major problems.
"None of the steering wheel functions worked, so I had no hybrid power, no DRS," Rosberg explained.
"The gear paddles sort of worked which was strange, but they would always up shift two gears at a time, so I had no fourth or sixth gear. It was just all over the place, and that's why I was slow.
"My brake balance was completely in the wrong place and I couldn't brake properly because I couldn't change that, so everything was all over the place.,” Rosberg explained.
Monday, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff explained the problem was traced back to the steering column, but there was no explanation for why it had happened.
"It looks like a broken loom in the steering column, which was within the duty cycle and not towards the end of its life cycle," Wolff explained.
"It just shut the whole thing down. The only thing that worked was the gear change and then the radio came back. There was no hybrid energy any more, so when we called him in we changed the steering wheel, and tried to get it going but it wouldn't,” Wolff continued.
Facing so many problems, the team decided to retire Rosberg's car from the race.
Drama struck when Rosberg tried leaving the garage ahead of the start of the race as none of the controls on the steering wheel was working.
The team's software engineers tried to fix the problem on the starting grid but failed to succeed.
Rosberg started the race from the pit lane but immediately hit major problems.
"None of the steering wheel functions worked, so I had no hybrid power, no DRS," Rosberg explained.
"The gear paddles sort of worked which was strange, but they would always up shift two gears at a time, so I had no fourth or sixth gear. It was just all over the place, and that's why I was slow.
"My brake balance was completely in the wrong place and I couldn't brake properly because I couldn't change that, so everything was all over the place.,” Rosberg explained.
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| Nico Rosberg's car is pushed in the pit lane. (Photo: WRi2) |
Monday, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff explained the problem was traced back to the steering column, but there was no explanation for why it had happened.
"It looks like a broken loom in the steering column, which was within the duty cycle and not towards the end of its life cycle," Wolff explained.
"It just shut the whole thing down. The only thing that worked was the gear change and then the radio came back. There was no hybrid energy any more, so when we called him in we changed the steering wheel, and tried to get it going but it wouldn't,” Wolff continued.
Facing so many problems, the team decided to retire Rosberg's car from the race.