Mercedes’ running at this week’s Bahrain Formula 1 tyre test has been brought to an end by damage sustained when Nico Rosberg suffered a blowout at 320km/h.

AUTOSPORT understands that while the Mercedes did not hit anything, the car did require some repairs as a result of the high-speed spin.

As there was insufficient time to complete repairs to get him back out on track for the rest of the final part of the three-day Pirelli test, the decision was taken not to run again.

Rosberg, who was not injured in the incident, Tweeted about the accident this morning, although this was subsequently deleted.

“Just spun at full speed 320km/h on Bahrain straight cause my tyre blew up without warning,” he wrote. “Thanks to that need to get some toilet paper now…”

Pirelli is testing its 2014 rubber in Bahrain using ’13 cars, with Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Ferrari running alongside Mercedes, which has had Rosberg driving for all three days.

When contacted by AUTOSPORT, a Pirelli spokesperson declined to comment directly but did stress that failures can happen during tyre testing.

“The test in Bahrain is a private tyre test, so most data generated from it are confidential,” said the spokesperson.

“However, incidents can happen, this is what testing is for. Our testing programme will continue as planned.”