Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg admitted that his sub-optimal tyre strategy had cost him seventh place in the final laps, when the German driver was passed by Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari on the final tour of the Korean GP.
Rosberg had enjoyed a strong outing for much of the race in Korea, running as high as 5th after the first round of pit stops and keeping pace with the leading pack.But while fighting with Ferrari duo Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, he flat-spotted his second set of Pirelli tyres, forcing an early final stop.
And Rosberg said that his worn tyres cost him crucial performance in the closing stages, which allowed Alguersuari to pass.
"I had good speed at the start of the race today but after we changed to the prime tyres, it became more difficult as the degradation was too strong," he explained after the race.
"I had some nice battles against Jenson and the Ferraris, and was pushing hard to defend my position against Felipe and Fernando in the middle stint.
"During this, I flat-spotted my front tyres so I had to pit earlier than expected which made my last stint on the primes very long."
He explained: "I didn't have enough grip by the end and so I just wasn't able to defend the position against Jaime. A difficult race for me today but I'm still happy to score some points."
Meanwhile, team mate Michael Schumacher was eliminated from the race after being hit from behind at the turn three hairpin by the Renault of Vitaly Petrov.
The impact broke his rear wing, and Schumacher said afterwards that the retirement had been a "big pity" after a promising opening stint.
"Another unfortunate end to a race which could have been encouraging today," Schumacher lamented, "It's a big pity as the car was again very good in race trim and I had already gained some positions.
"It would have been interesting to see what was possible, and I think we could certainly have taken some points."
On the clash itself, he added: "As for the incident, I didn't see Vitaly coming; I was just suddenly spun into a direction I had not intended to go, and then I saw my rear wing hanging off.
"It was unfortunate but these things happen when you fight hard - that's racing."
Team boss Ross Brawn added: "The early stages of the race looked encouraging and both drivers were making good progress on the option tyres, with Nico fighting among the top three teams and jumping the Ferraris thanks to more strong pit work.
"Nico was driving well but had a big flat spot on his left-front tyre on lap 27, which forced him to pit out of sequence for another set of primes.
"From that point on, he had to nurse the tyres for over half the race distance to the flag."
He added: "As for Michael's incident, he was driving well, making up positions and minding his own business when somebody simply forgot to brake at turn three.
"Although we didn't score points to our full potential today, there were encouraging signs of our competitiveness for the remaining three races of the season, and we will aim to build on this in India."
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