Nico Rosberg will use his fourth power unit of the season at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, putting him in a dangerous position which could see him take a grid penalty later in the year.
Rosberg and team-mate Lewis Hamilton were both fitted with upgraded units for the race in Monza, however the team found a leak in the coolant system on the German’s car ahead of qualifying, which forced Rosberg to switch back to an older-spec engine.
That engine then failed during the closing laps of the race, costing Rosberg a podium finish.
Mercedes are unsure if the coolant leak has caused irreparable damage to his third unit, or whether it can be salvaged and used at future races – the team are due to fire it up on Friday to conduct some tests.
However Robserg won’t use the engine for the Singapore GP for fear it may have been compromised and run into reliability troubles, potentially costing him yet more points as he falls further back from Hamilton.
With seven races remaining, Rosberg will need two engines to see out the year and therefore should the unit be deemed unusable, he will have to take a fifth unit which would incur a grid penalty.
