Torrid time for Rosberg in the heat of Hungary

With his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton winning the race in Hungary, Nico Rosberg had to watch on after being sidelines by first lap incidents and a late engine blow-up.
28.07.2013- Race, Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 W04
28.07.2013- Race, Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 W04
© PHOTO 4

Despite two Grand Prix wins to his name already this year at Monaco and Silverstone, this weekend at Hungary Nico Rosberg was forced to share the season's spoils with his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.

While Hamilton was celebrating on the top step of the podium at the Hungaroring after the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg was back in the team's pit garage piecing together where it had gone wrong for him.

It had started early, after his launch off the dirty side of the grid in fourth place had left him vulnerable to attack from the two Ferraris into the first corners of the race. Fernando Alonso blasted around the outside of him before Rosberg's efforts to repel Massa from doing likewise ended with contact and the Mercedes briefly running off the side of the track.

"I got a good start but then Felipe and I came together on the first lap which was unfortunate," explained Rosberg. "I was in front and had left some space for him but his front wing hit my rear tyre.

"That cost me a lot of positions, and it's really difficult to make the places back up on this track," he pointed out.

He did his best to claw his way back up the positions, but in any case an engine failure on lap 64 just six laps from the end of the race left him pulling off and retiring at the side of the track.

"Unfortunately my weekend didn't go quite so well and it's a shame that we couldn't have had a two-car finish today [but] my day came to an early conclusion with the engine failure," he said.

"However there are lots of positives for us to take as a team from this weekend and now I really look forward to the upcoming races as we know that we have a quick car and we made the new tyres work for us this weekend," he added. "Today was a great day for the team, for Lewis and a brilliant job by everyone here at the track and back at our factories."

Team principal Ross Brawn lamented with his driver's issues during the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

"Nico was unfortunate to get tangled up with Massa on the first lap and then suffered an engine failure, which was a little worrying in the closing laps as we hadn't seen any signs of overheating," Brawn revealed.

Mercedes' director of motorsport Toto Wolff admitted that Rosberg's late engine failure had given the team's pit wall some anxious moments toward the finish of the race, worrying over the durability of race leader Hamilton's own power plant.

"[Nico] was making up places when his engine failed near the end of the race. That gave us a nervous few closing laps but we were able to bring Lewis' car home safely," said a relieved Wolff afterwards.

"Overall, this has been a very encouraging weekend," agreed Ross Brawn. "In extremely hot conditions, we maintained our Saturday afternoon competitiveness on Sunday afternoon and it certainly feels like we have made a good step forward today.

"Now we need to get our heads down before the well-deserved two-week shutdown so that we arrive in Spa as well prepared as we possibly can," he added.

Read More