Grid penalty for Rosberg after Practice 3 shunt
Marshals recover Nico Rosberg’s car following his crash in practice. Pic F1 Twitter
Nico Rosberg has incurred a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following a crash during final practice at the Red Bull Ring.
The Formula 1 championship leader suffered a left rear suspension failure which sent the Mercedes driver into the barriers coming out of Turn 2 in the final stages of Practice 3.
Mercedes has confirmed that Rosberg will require a new gearbox unit as the squad races to fix his car in time for today’s qualifying session.
“It looks like it was suspension failure on the kerb,” Mercedes executive technical director Paddy Lowe told Sky Sports F1.
“He was full throttle on the kerb at the point where he lost the rear end, so we’re looking into that.
“We need to make sure we are covered for the race.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel topped final practice from team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel will also take a five-place grid drop after undertaking a gearbox change prior to opening practice.
Qualifying is set to begin at 2200 AEST.
Join the discussion below in the Speedcafe.com comments section
Please note: Speedcafe.com reserves the right to remove any comment that does not follow the comment policy. For support, contact [email protected]