SINGAPORE, Sept 21 — Nico Rosberg’s world championship hopes were struck a potentially huge blow when his Mercedes broke down at the start of today’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The German, leading the title race by 22 points from Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, was left stationary on the front row for the warm-up lap at the Marina Bay circuit.

His team had to push his stricken car, which suffered an electronics system failure back into the pits, and when the race got going he set off from the pitlane in 21st place.

Rosberg had had to change his steering wheel three times in the final 25 minutes before the race.

Hamilton, now the sole occupier of the front row, made a perfect start, leading the pack from Red Bull’s defending champion Sebastian Vettel. — AFP