Nico Rosberg has revealed that a broken anti-roll bar was the reason for his retirement at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Mercedes driver had been running well in sixth before making a stop for new tyres. He was then forced to return to the pits after he complained of severe understeer where the team chose to retire him.
“The race was tough for me today and with my set-up I had an unexpected level of understeer which made it difficult to drive. After my second pit stop, the feeling got worse and I had one front wheel in the air during the corners,” he explained.
“The rear anti-roll bar, which influences the balance of the car, had broken so unfortunately we had to retire the car.”
His start to 2013 hasn’t been as fortunate as team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s who has two podium finishes and a 100 per cent finish record in three races compared to Rosberg’s 33.3 per cent.
“It’s a shame and I’ve had a difficult start to the season with two DNFs. But it’s good to have the next race in just seven days time so hopefully we can put this result behind us with a strong weekend in Bahrain. It was great for the team to get another podium today.”
