Nico Rosberg: Gust of wind caused United States GP mistake

With 10 laps remaining at Austin, Rosberg was on course for a win that would have at least put on hold Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton's bid for his third crown.

But Rosberg then made a mistake at Turn 16, running wide, allowing Hamilton through to take the chequered flag and with it joining an elite club of drivers with three or more titles to their name.

Now able to explain what unfolded, speaking ahead of this weekend's Mexican GP, Rosberg said: "It was a gust of wind, a big one."

Met with a few giggles at his response from the assembled media, Rosberg quickly chipped in: "Seriously!"

He added: "Everybody has it and you can't really use it as an excuse. It's still a mistake, and I understand my mistake now. That's important.

"For me to understand it, that it was a very unusual scenario that happened just once in all those laps, helps me a lot in moving forward as I lost a lot of rear downforce as a result.

"Up until then the race had been going extremely well, I was really feeling comfortable, quick in the circumstances.

"Of course the safety car came out and brought my 10-second lead down to zero.

"I think I did a great race except for one big mistake which cost me the win.

"Unfortunately the big mistake was a costly one, but I'm able to reset. I'm excited to be here, and I want to win. That's it, ready to go."

While Rosberg was happy to discuss his Turn 16 moment at the Circuit of the Americas, he declined to comment on the lessons learned from his Turn 1 incident with Hamilton.

Rosberg was far from happy post-race with what he saw as an over-aggressive move from Hamilton, which dropped him from first to fifth at the start.

"I don't want to go into details about how my approach is going to be, or whether I'm going to think about my approach or not. It's not the place to do that," said Rosberg.

Suggested to Rosberg he is too nice with Hamilton and he should get his elbows out, he replied: "Sorry I'm not going to go into those details.

"I'll leave it up to you to make your own opinion, and if that's your opinion I respect that."

The discussions between the pair suggested by Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff following the event have yet to take place.