Relieved Rosberg thought he’d finished fifth

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Nico Rosberg said he was very happy to finish in second place after both Mercedes hit technical trouble during the Canadian Grand Prix.

Rosberg was leading team mate Lewis Hamilton when both suffered MGU-K failures just before half-distance.

“Both cars suddenly lost the MGU-K system and a lot of power which was really tough,” said Rosberg. “Then I lost some time in the second pit stop which let Lewis jump me and I was struggling to cool the rear brakes down so it was all happening.”

Hamilton suffered brake failure and retired shortly after passing Rosberg. That left the lone Mercedes defending an increasingly vulnerable lead from a strong of pursuers.

“Towards the end of the race, I tried to defend against Sergio [Perez] which was fine,” Rosberg explained.

“But Daniel [Ricciardo] was too fast on the straights with much more power than I had available and he was able to get past.”

“With so much going on, I had to ask my engineer where I finished at the end as I thought I was probably about fifth or sixth. I was so happy to hear that I was in P2.”

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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17 comments on “Relieved Rosberg thought he’d finished fifth”

  1. He knew he was leading the race when Hamilton retired. I mean it was obvious, wasn’t it? So, why would he think he would end up P6.?

    1. Because his car was broken and he lost around 2-4 seconds of pace.

    2. Probably from seeing a Williams in front when he left the pits, and a Force India behind (the Red Bulls behind would be harder to spot)

      1. He left the pits before Hamilton retired.

  2. He should send a gift basket to Perez. And maybe FI in general, without their efforts it would have been a RBR 1-2 and a Williams on 3rd.

    1. That was exactly what I said to a mate right after the race.

    2. Indeed. Mercedes got a superb service from their customer team there. Until he lost control, Perez was going to be my man of the race! @tmf42, @mouse_nightshirt

  3. And if Perez wasn’t there he probably would have (assuming massa and perez didn’t collide again!). If he had got a 5 second penalty he would’ve finished 3rd. I’d like Nico to fill in my lottery ticket this week.
    A Merc without MGUK is pretty much a red bull. Good chassis to still be putting in purple sectors too.

    1. I suspect a 5 second penalty in his pit stop would have meant Perez would have passed him almost as soon as he caught him. The RBs, Massa, and maybe more would have followed.

      1. Indeed, then Perez would have led, and if he didn’t have to reset his electronics near the end would probably have won the race!

    2. No. A Mercedes without MGUK is a Force India, Red Bull is much faster than that.

  4. Was Ros problem what a happend in Aus to Ham? If it was why retire Ham becuase remember when he said he had no speed he was suddenly quicker in the middle sector as no cars were closing surely they should have waited they say they tried saving the Engine. With Aus layout may have been a chance for 5th.

    1. Dion (@infinitygc)
      8th June 2014, 23:01

      @Dan They both had failures related to the MGU-K this race, meaning that their brakes had to deliver a lot more force than usual.

      What Hamilton had in Australia was a failure related to the engine itself (shoddy insulation on one of the spark plug wires making him lose a cylinder), not in any way related to what happened today.

      The reason they decided to retire Hamilton and not Rosberg is because Hamilton had a complete brake-failure, while Rosberg only lacked his MGU-K. Rosberg could still continue driving, since his brakes where still allright, but Hamilton’s just didn’t work, which is quite bad when you’re driving at 300 kph.

      1. Niki Lauda said on German TV that both of them were having problems with rear brakes, but Nico could manage to avoid the overheating. Do you guys remember when Rosberg was told that Lewis is using more rear brake? ;)

        1. Victor Vierwieler
          8th June 2014, 23:35

          Driving lessons from a certain German.
          Call it instinct.

        2. @banana88x They were using different brake bias settings, and once the MGU-K went, the rear brakes were solely relied upon to slow down the car. Hence why Hamilton’s went completely. Not much to do with nursing, or “driving lessons” or “instinct” as Victor puts it. More to do with physics, following a car, and brake bias settings lol. Why everything has to be Driver X > Driver Y, is beyond me. Sometimes you just have to look at things objectively

  5. Thank Perez for that

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