Mexico City - Nico Rosberg has blamed a strong gust of wind for the mistake that handed Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton his third Formula One world championship in Texas last Sunday.
Rosberg had been leading the race when he went wide at turn 16 seven laps from the finish in Austin, an error that allowed Hamilton to pass and take victory and the title.
The German had said afterwards that he was baffled by the mistake but he told reporters at the Mexican Grand Prix on Thursday that he now had an explanation.
“It was a gust of wind,” he said. “A big one. I'm serious, actually.
“But everybody has it so you can't really use it as an excuse. It is still a mistake but I understand my mistake now and that's important.
“For me to understand it, that it was a very unusual scenario which happened just once in all those laps and everything... that helps me a lot moving forward.”
If Rosberg had won in Austin, after starting on pole, the championship would have remained open until Mexico at least but he is now fighting to finish second with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel still ahead.
Rosberg, whose team has also retained its Constructors' title, said his approach for the final three races would not change.
“OK, the Constructors' is done and the Drivers' is done but I want to win, I'm sure Lewis wants to win, Vettel wants to win. So it's just going to be a battle pretty much as usual.”
HAAS F1 SET FOR GUTIERREZ ANNOUNCEMENT
Meanwhile, Esteban Gutierrez is set to complete the new Haas F1 team's 2016 lineup after they scheduled a driver announcement in Mexico on Friday.
The fact that the announcement will be streamed live on the Escuderia Telmex and Claro Sports websites would have been a strong enough hint if the Ferrari reserve's signing was not already considered the sport's worst-kept secret.
Telmex and Claro are both subsidiaries of telecoms giant America Movil, and Gutierrez has been backed by them throughout his Formual One career.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner this month described the kind of driver the team, which will make its debut in 2016, was looking for.
"Somebody who has driven an F1 car, of the current generation, money is always important because it costs a lot of money, and North America is a nice place for a driver to come from," he said.
Haas is using Ferrari engines with technical support and Gutierrez has been Ferrari's reserve since he lost his race seat at Ferrari-powered Sauber in 2014.
Romain Grosjean has already been signed from Lotus for the other seat at Haas.
Reuters
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