Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe explains that Nico Rosberg had to overcome “a couple of problems” to claim pole position for the German Grand Prix.
The German was about to set his first Q3 flyer at Hockenheim when he bailed out of his lap and came back into the pits. Mercedes quickly managed to fix the electronics issues on his car, ultimately allowing Rosberg to recover to the top of the timesheets.
“[Nico] had a couple of problems concurrently just at the end of that lap, which caused the engine to cut out and it lost sync on all the gears,” Lowe told Sky Sports F1 right after the session.
“It also corresponded with warnings with his throttle pedal, which was actually not to do with it but I think that gave him a bit of a scare. Nobody likes to lose control of their throttle pedal.
“He aborted the lap, which is a bit of a disturbance to your pattern in Q3.
“We found a way to sort of shutting it down into a safe mode and then sent him again.”
Lowe adds that Rosberg’s cool reaction under pressure and subsequent pole lap on a heavier fuel load was quite impressive.
“I was particularly impressed that he went out there and got the pole lap with that sort of stress and disturbance and also with two laps of fuel on board to give him two chances so a great lap and a fantastic job.”
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