Hamilton let down by software "bug"
Hamilton let down by software "bug"
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff blamed a "software bug" for the team's strategy mis-step which allowed Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel to win the Australian Grand Prix for a second year in a row. Lewis Hamilton was robbed of a certain victory after Vettel sneaked ahead under the Virtual Safety Car.
Hamilton converted his record-breaking seventh Australian pole position into a healthy lead over Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel, but Ferrari triumphed in Albert Park's pit lane, as they did in 2017.
After the Haas of Romain Grosjean retired, Vettel dived into the pits from first position, emerging ahead of Hamilton, who had pitted six laps earlier and was not informed by his team that he was under pressure to get back into the lead.
When Hamilton demanded answers from his team, race engineer Pete Bonnington reported: "We thought we were safe, but there's obviously something wrong."
And Wolff immediately absolved his team of any blame, saying that the world champions' systems had gone wrong.
"It's very hard to take because we had the pace. For whatever reason, we need to find out, we lost the win," Wolff told Sky Sports.
???????????? @LewisHamilton
We’ll get him next time! ????????#DrivenByEachOther #AusGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/hKl2HKjBqd — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) March 25, 2018
"We thought we had about three seconds margin. I don't know what happened to them, we need to ask the computers and that's what we are doing at the moment. Whether we had a software problem somewhere, we need to fix it.
"I think the problem is within our systems. I think we have a bug somewhere that said 15 seconds is what you need, we had 12, it should have been enough but it wasn't.
"He was attacking flat out but you can see the overtaking is pretty bad here. Even the mega overtakers couldn't make a pass. Lewis had to give up because the tyres wouldn't have made it to the end."
Wolff added: "I think we have a software issue with the VSC data, a situation that we haven't had yet with a special constellation of cars on track, one going in high speeds and one in slow speeds. The gap that we needed was wrongly calculated by the systems.
"I think the way the algorithm is set up, the way the computer is being programmed, we always had the green light and the gap was enough for us to stay ahead. And then we saw the TV pictures and it wasn't enough."
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 Miami Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today
- 41 minutes ago
F1 rival makes stunning Hamilton 'best' claim despite poor form
- 1 hour ago
F1 star emerges as SHOCK target for Audi
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Horner BLAMED for Newey nightmare as ‘absolute b******s’ Red Bull claims slammed
- 3 hours ago
Hamilton F1 rival makes astonishing admission with Verstappen claim
- 3 hours ago
McLaren boss keen for stunning Alonso REUNION
- Today 10:57
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860