Wolff puts Melbourne Mercedes defeat on 'software glitch'

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff suggested the team's defeat in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at the hands of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was the result of a software glitch in the outfit's computer.

Poleman Lewis Hamilton had been gradually building a comfortable lead when a Virtual Safety Car status was activated following the demise of the Haas drivers, but shortly after the Mercedes driver had executed his pit stop.

Vettel then took his turn changing tyres but gained a significant amount of time on his rival as a result of the VSC.

The German driver emerged ahead and held his own until the checkered flag.

"I think we had a software issue with the VSC delta, with a special constellation of cars on track, one going at high speed, the other one going at slow speed" Wolff told Sky Sports.

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"The gap that we needed was wrongly calculated by the systems. The way the algorithms are set up, the way the computer is programmed, we always had the green light, the gap is enough to stay ahead, and then we saw the TV pictures and it wasn't enough.

Wolff obviously bemoaned the mishap but took consolation from the superior pace Hamilton had shown before losing out.

"It’s always very painful when you’re in control of a race and you lose and you don’t understand why," Wolff added.

"That rarely happens in the data world of Formula One. But we are digging deep now to understand where we could have had a problem.

"Today we felt good, the car was quick, he [Hamilton] was close to Sebastian.

"I think he knew that he couldn’t push anymore because it would have ruined the tyres and he wouldn’t make it to the end," said Wolff.

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