Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits the team was “hurt” after losing victory at the Australian Grand Prix through a software bug but insists measures have been put in place to avoid a reoccurrence.
The Brackley-based outfit shot itself in the foot when an error with its delta time behind the virtual safety car allowed Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to steal the win at the season-opener.
Mercedes assured it would assess the failure ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix – Wolff says the team was reminded how “every error is punished” in Formula 1.
Reflecting on Melbourne, Wolff said: “We suspected that the new season would be close fought and the first race confirmed those suspicions.
‘We made mistakes and did not perform to our maximum – and it reminded us that this is the toughest racing series in the world, where every error is punished. It hurt to leave all those points on the table, especially because we know we had the pace to win in Australia.
“Back at base, we did what we always do after a tough weekend. We made sure that we understand what went wrong and put a process in place to make sure that we don’t see a similar issue in the future. These painful moments are the real learning experiences. Mistakes become training.”
Wolff is anticipating a tight affair with Ferrari at the Sakhir circuit, with both teams winning all of the last four grand prix’s to be held in Bahrain.
“We expect Bahrain to be another challenging weekend, although the challenges will be of a completely different nature,” he added.
“The race in the desert is tricky because the conditions change drastically between sessions. FP1 and FP3 take place in the heat of the day whereas qualifying and the race itself take place after sunset so it’s much cooler. That makes it extremely difficult to find the right set-up with the car.
“Bahrain is also a power-sensitive race with the long straights. We saw in Melbourne that the Ferraris in particular were very quick, so I expect it to be a close battle.”
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