Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has admitted the team almost retired Australian Grand Prix race winner Nico Rosberg due to an overheating brake caliper.
The issue, caused by debris, meant the team considered retiring Rosberg. However, Mercedes resolved the problem and the German driver went on to claim victory at the first round of 2016.
Rosberg led home team-mate Lewis Hamilton for a Mercedes one-two, with the latter bouncing back from a poor start that saw him drop to sixth place on lap one.
"The race was extremely tense throughout – a real cliffhanger and a great way to show what Formula 1 is really about," Wolff said.
"We didn't get it right at the start. The drivers were slow away from the line then touched at the first corner, so we were forced into recovery mode. Our plan from there had been to put Nico on a two stop and Lewis a one stop strategy before the red flag came out.
"We did the maths and opted to go with one set of mediums to the end, with the drivers on the knife edge of endurance and performance.
"Managing tyres and temperatures became a big challenge, with debris causing an overheating brake caliper that almost forced us to retire Nico at one stage. Thankfully that was not the case and he led Lewis home for a hard-fought 1-2.
"A perfect result to start the year, a great job from the drivers to manage and recover the race, fantastic work on the pit wall to give them the right strategy to do so and an incredible team effort from everybody at the factories to get us here."
