German admits compromises will likely have to be made to preserve unit
Tuesday 22 September 2015 09:27, UK
Nico Rosberg will use his fourth and final penalty-free power unit from opening practice session in Singapore.
The Mercedes driver's new engine will be the updated specification which propelled team-mate Lewis Hamilton to victory at Monza. Rosberg had used the upgraded unit in practice, but unreliability problems forced him to switch to an older unit for qualifying and the race, which ultimately expired before the chequered flag.
Rosberg's problem with the new power unit in Italy wasn't directly related to the engine itself, but rather "a leak in the cooling system". However, it is still unclear if the engine will be able to be used again.
Therefore, while Hamilton still has one fresh unit to use this season, Rosberg knows his engine may have to be dialled back to cover more miles than originally planned otherwise he risks taking a grid penalty.
"I am not sure how compromising it will be going forward, most likely a small compromise at least and maybe a bigger one depending. But we don't know yet," Rosberg said.
The German trails Hamilton by 53 points in the drivers' championship meaning two victories for Rosberg and two DNFs for his team-mate would still not be enough to reverse their positions. However, Rosberg isn't giving up on the title just yet.
"I have a chance. You can either keep believing or don't and I have chosen to and that is going to help in the next couple of races," he said.
"Also historically anything can happen in sport so I will keep pushing. With the car we have it is possible to win at every race weekend."
However, Rosberg knows Mercedes may not have it all their own way in Singapore with many teams seeing it as their best chance to take the fight to the Silver Arrows.
"There could be a couple of surprises here," Rosberg added.
"For example Red Bull could surprise because they were quick in Hungary and even at Spa in the corners. Ferrari of course will be there as usual."
