"It's maximum attack and I won't be giving up the fight," Mercedes driver says after falling 53 points behind title rival Lewis Hamilton
Tuesday 22 September 2015 09:37, UK
Nico Rosberg feels he has "nothing to lose" heading to this weekend's Singapore GP after falling 53 points behind world championship rival Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg suffered an engine failure with just two laps to go at the Italian GP, a race Hamilton dominated, although his victory hung in the balance for over two hours afterwards as stewards investigated Mercedes for tyre pressure irregularities.
With Hamilton's victory allowed to stand, his title lead has therefore been extended to the equivalent of two race wins with seven GPs to go.
"Obviously, Monza didn't go to plan," Rosberg said. "It was gutting to miss out on a good result so close to the end but now I approach the final seven races with the attitude that there's nothing to lose.
"It's maximum attack and I won't be giving up the fight, no way."
Rosberg's Silver Arrow had already needed an engine change at Monza and, ideally, he could do with similar gremlins striking Hamilton this weekend.
Twelve months ago, the latter took the lead in the drivers' championship from Rosberg in Singapore after steering and gearbox problems also forced the German into retirement.
"Monza was an awesome weekend for me - one of the best I've had in Formula One," said Hamilton.
"Of course, it was a shame for Nico and the crew to have the retirement - but I know he'll bounce back and I'm looking forward to another battle in Singapore."
Ahead of F1's annual night race on the Marina Bay circuit, the world champion added: "I've won there twice now - both times from pole, which shows you how important qualifying is too.
"It won't be easy to make it three - far from it. But I'm riding high right now and I'll be pushing for that hat-trick."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff added: "This was our first retirement of the season which shows how far we have come but also that we are not invincible.
"Every detail matters and we are trying to take care of all of them. So, we take lessons from our failures and look to get back on top with both cars in Singapore."
