Nico Rosberg cursed the "unbelievable" throttle pedal issue which forced his retirement from the Russian Grand Prix and left his title hopes hanging by a thread.
Having led at the start and a safety car restart, Rosberg soon started complaining of an issue with his throttle pedal and ran wide at two of the heavy braking zones. After conceding the lead to Lewis Hamilton due to the issue Rosberg returned to the pits to retire and the Mercedes driver admits it was a safety concern inside the cockpit.
"It's not nice when there's a problem with the throttle pedal, that's a bit of a worry," Rosberg said. "Especially because it was becoming more and more in my direction, the pedal, so in the end I had to lift my complete leg off the pedal to come off the throttle. Then I can't steer anymore when I lift up my leg because then my knee is in the steering wheel. It's unbelievable that something like that had to happen.
"I was asking the team what I should do if it does happen. I realised in braking that the throttle was sticking open. They told me that the cars have safety device in there, which will automatically noticed that and switch off. So that was a bit reassuring."
The German's retirement saw hm drop to third in the standings behind Sebastian Vettel, with a 73-point gap to championship leader Hamilton with 100 still available.
Asked if his championship hopes are now over, he replied: "I don't know, I don't think about that. It is never over until the mathematics say it is over. Other than that I will always keep pushing, and I will always come back."