The primary cause of Nico Rosberg’s retirement at the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix finally came to light. According to The Guardian, the team of Mercedes AMG Petronas revealed that the unfortunate event stemmed from a “freak contamination”. In other words, a foreign substance was found lodged in the steering column electronics of the German’s W05.

The said foreign body came from a substance used by Mercedes in their pre-event servicing, explained the source. Then, the contamination led to a loom failure in the affected area. As a result, the race car of Rosberg had trouble running properly.

Notably, the issue messed up his clutch. The function to change the W05’s engine settings was not working properly as well.

Rosberg’s unfortunate retirement from the race, however, was a blessing for his teammate, Lewis Hamilton. The Briton was able to snatch the first place in the event. His victory eventually led to a three-point lead in the F1 drivers’ rankings, surpassing the German.

F1 conspiracy theorists were quick to voice out their opinions on the matter again, saying that Rosberg’s W05 had been sabotaged. Most of these people were the ones who always stirred the same intrigues whenever Hamilton’s car failed in the past races.

Mercedes, of course, denied any foul play behind the incident. The team emphasized the material found in the German’s W05 was an element used in normal pre-event servicing.