Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff insists Lewis Hamilton's decision to go for the gap was "fair enough" and what he "should have done" in that situation, describing the resultant crash as "unfortunate".
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg came together at Turn 3 when the Briton fought to regain the lead after initially losing it at the start. Hamilton attempted a move down the inside of Rosberg, but was forced on to the grass as Rosberg defended his lead.
Further analysis by the team revealed that Rosberg had engaged an incorrect setting on his steering wheel and was slow out of Turn 2 as a result. That created a speed differential between the two of 17kph, allowing Hamilton to get a run on his team-mate.
Wolff therefore believes Hamilton was right to go for the move, blaming neither for the eventual outcome which cost the team a potential 1-2 finish.
"I think the manoeuvre was fair enough to attempt," said the Austrian. "The result was unfortunate, but making the manoeuvre and seeing the light [on Rosberg's car] blinking and just going for it was what he should have done.
"And equally you can't blame Nico for closing the door. But the difference of speed just triggered the incident in the end."
Explaining what happened, Wolff added: "Nico was in the wrong setting and that's why he lost power out of Turn 3. He didn't have as much [hybrid] energy as Lewis had.
"It explains why everything went so quickly. There was such a discrepancy in speed and they needed to make a decision in a split second, and that ended up with Lewis hitting Nico."
Wolff insists Mercedes will continue to allow their drivers to race one another this season, despite the loss of points.
"We will continue to let them race. Today was just a couple of unfortunate coincidences that ended up in us losing as a team. So it was different than Spa [2015]."
