Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes it would be unacceptable for the Formula 1 championship to be decided by reliability.
Nico Rosberg suffered an electrical issue in Singapore which saw him fail to finish whilst team-mate Lewis Hamilton won the race, turning his 22 point deficit into a 3 point lead.
So far this season, both Hamilton and Rosberg have had two race ending failures, however Hamilton has suffered a further two on Saturday which has forced him to start from the back of the grid.
It would be unfair for that to decide the final championship outcome according to Wolff.
“It would not be satisfying at all to have the championship decided because one car let the driver down,” said the Austrian. “We need to refocus, get our heads down and keep concentrating on preventing these reliability problems reoccurring.
“It’s something we need to get on top of – we have a missile of a car but, in terms of reliability, we are having issues. We have a great group of people in our reliability team who are dedicated to quality. We’re very proud of the structures they are putting into place – and that’s what makes it even more astonishing that we keep having these issues.
“These things take time to get a grip on – but we will not stop until we stop suffering these DNFs. If we could do anything more to prevent further retirements we would be doing it – I would break my arm again to make it happen,” he joked after breaking his arm earlier this season.
Wolff praised Rosberg for dealing with the matter in a professional manner.
“I said sorry to Nico for having let him down. As a driver it’s a bitter blow having lost so many valuable points, so it doesn’t really help them what you say in that moment – but as a team you need to apologise when you have messed up,” he added.
“Nico was very professional, very calm, and that’s something I’m very proud of. One of his strengths is even when disaster strikes he is able to hold his head up high and support the team during the race.”
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