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          Lewis Hamilton: I wish strategy was more in my hands

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          Vettel win offers hope of close-fought season (1:30)

          As Sebastian Vettel wins the season opener in Melbourne, Jonathan Legard looks ahead with hope for the rest of the year. (1:30)

          • Laurence Edmondson, F1 EditorMar 25, 2018, 10:47 AM
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              • Joined ESPN in 2009
              • An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011

          MELBOURNE, Australia -- Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by the intricacies of modern Formula One racing after Mercedes' strategy software cost him a likely victory at the Australian Grand Prix.

          The four-time world champion looked like the man to beat throughout the Melbourne weekend, but after leading for the first 25 laps of Sunday's race he lost the lead to Sebastian Vettel under a pivotal Virtual Safety Car period [VSC].

          Mercedes' software led its engineers to believe Hamilton had a safe margin over Vettel and as a result the pit wall told Hamilton not to push to the limit before the VSC. However, in managing his pace Hamilton left himself vulnerable to Vettel and when the Ferrari emerged from its pit stop under the VSC it was 0.6s ahead.

          Asked if he wished he raced in an era when data did not dictate his pace on track, Hamilton said: "Definitely, definitely.

          "I mean it's such a team effort but when you're relying on so much computers, so much data, so much technology to come up with the strategy or whatever it may be, I wish it was more in my hands because I feel I was driving as good as ever today.

          "I was really, really happy with how I was driving. Anyways, I will take that onto the next race, apply it exactly the same as I have this weekend and try to grow, try to grow within myself."

          Following his post-race engineering briefings, Hamilton said he was still waiting for a full explanation of what went wrong.

          "I don't fully understand at the moment. They don't fully understand it still so they couldn't give me the exact reason to why it was the way it was. I can't really say how I feel about it but it's never easy to lose a grand prix. There was just so many positives to take away from this weekend.

          "In the race, I had extra tools to... I could have been further ahead by the first pit stop, I could have been further ahead after the... there were so many good things we could have done. If one thing is telling you one thing and you think you're doing it to the book and within the limits then there's nothing you can do."