Romain Grosjean clears air with Mercedes-GP boss Toto Wolff

Haas driver says he crossed the line while claiming he was impeded in qualifying by world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean says he has cleared the air with Toto Wolff of Mercedes-GP. Andrej Isakovic / AFP
Powered by automated translation

Romain Grosjean made a "clear the air" phone call to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff following their disagreement at the British Grand Prix where he claimed he was blocked by Lewis Hamilton.

The Haas driver said he believed he lost two positions on the grid because he was impeded in qualifying by the Briton who went on to win the race.

But Wolff responded by suggesting that Grosjean should be happy to be in Formula One with his past record of incidents.

"I wasn’t very happy so I arranged a phone call," Grosjean said ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. "The good news is that I have his number. We had a great phone call. We explained.

"I think there are tensions. They're fighting for the world championship and probably some of my words were reported to Toto, but in a different way - and then he got a bit upset."

Also read:

Graham Caygill: Bottas success reason of hope for Groajean

The Frenchman added that he regretted saying, via team radio, that Mercedes "needed better GPS". "I didn't mean anything against Lewis, or Mercedes. I was just saying that it cost me two positions on the grid," he said.

"Starting P8 or P10 is a different matter in Formula 1. We're all fighting for the same thing. So I do apologise I said the GPS wasn't good, which is not fair to Mercedes.

"But I'm still thinking that I was on a fast lap and I lost three tenths.

"So, you know, it's a shame, but it's behind. It's all good. We spoke with Toto and we're friends."