Nico Rosberg's early retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend was due to a "foreign substance" contaminating his car, according to Mercedes.

A statement from the Formula 1 giants claimed that a residue of a material used in pre-event servicing was discovered, which caused a short-circuit that led to the clutch and engine setting problems the German driver encountered before and during the race.

"Fresh parts will be used at the forthcoming races," the statement read. "The team has been working intensively on reliability and quality processes during 2013 and 2014 in order to improve our performance in this area and these efforts will continue at the same intensive level over the coming months."

Rosberg was forced to start the race from the pit lane because he could not get a gear on the grid, retiring from the race at his first pit stop when his car would not move out of neutral.