Romain Grosjean sharply criticised McLaren and Zak Brown on TV – shortly afterwards, the Frenchman had to admit that he had completely misunderstood Brown’s comments
Romain Grosjean has publicly apologised to McLaren and team principal Zak Brown. The former Formula 1 driver had criticised Brown’s comments about Oscar Piastri during the Spanish Grand Prix, but had misunderstood them.
The Frenchman, who now works as a Formula 1 pundit for Canal+, was at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. During Sunday’s live broadcast, the Frenchman voiced criticism of alleged comments made by McLaren team principal Zak Brown.
Grosjean had initially assumed that Brown had, following qualifying, downplayed Piastri’s performance in comparison to that of his team-mate Lando Norris. “I saw a comment from Zak Brown about Lando’s lap. He tore Oscar Piastri to pieces with a pair of scissors and a chainsaw,” Grosjean said initially.
Grosjean criticises alleged comments
Norris had secured pole position at the Madrid circuit on Saturday. “If Piastri had any morale left, he certainly doesn’t have any now,” Grosjean continued. He criticised in particular the perceived harshness of Brown’s comments.
“The harshness, the force of that statement… The question was that Norris had driven a good qualifying session and he was asked how he explained the difference. Basically, he said that Lando is World Champion and better than Oscar,” said Grosjean.
The Frenchman then referred to last season and the internal team decisions at McLaren. “He’s somehow forgotten that Oscar was leading the World Championship last year, that he was asked at Monza to let Lando past, and that that might not necessarily have been the right decision at the time. It was surprising, very surprising, and I was speechless when I heard that statement.”
Brown had actually said something else
The problem: Brown hadn’t made those comments at all. Grosjean had misinterpreted the McLaren team principal’s remarks from an interview on F1 TV following qualifying. What makes this particularly ironic is that Grosjean himself was present during the conversation with Juan Pablo Montoya and Jolyon Palmer.
Brown had initially praised Norris’s qualifying lap. “The whole lap was incredible and Lando is getting better and better. When you see a lap like that being driven, you just think: ‘He’s a world champion.’”
When asked by Montoya about the difference in performance between the two McLaren drivers, Brown went on to explain: “I think, first of all, Lando is at the very top of his game, isn’t he? So I don’t think there was any more time left to be found on the track. He’s found that lap.”
Grosjean apologises publicly
“Oscar was right up there with him all weekend but just didn’t manage to put in that extra lap. We’ll keep looking into it. He’ll look at the data and probably say, like the rest of us: ‘Wow, what a lap’,” added Brown.
Grosjean’s comments during the live broadcast did not go unnoticed and were widely shared and discussed, particularly on social media. On Sunday evening, the Frenchman therefore clarified that he had indeed misinterpreted Brown’s comments.
“Today, on Canal+, I commented on Zak Brown’s remarks about Oscar Piastri during an interview yesterday on F1 TV, which I was present at myself. I completely misunderstood his words and would like to apologise for that,” wrote Grosjean.
Praise for McLaren despite bad luck
“I know how important it is to Zak and the entire McLaren team to respect their drivers and treat them fairly and equally,” the Frenchman went on to explain.
Grosjean also made it clear that McLaren had the fastest car in Madrid and had been unlucky due to the virtual safety car phase. He believes Norris and Piastri will have another chance to fight for victory at the upcoming Grand Prix in Baku.
