The mea culpa landed hours after Grosjean’s broadcast attack ricocheted around Formula 1 social media.

Working for French broadcaster Canal+ during the race at Madrid’s Madring, Grosjean told viewers that Zak Brown had cut Oscar Piastri “to pieces with a pair of scissors and a chainsaw” in an F1 TV interview the day before. He also claimed Brown had said Lando Norris was a world champion and a better driver than Piastri, as Motorsport.com reported.

That was not what Brown had said.

What Brown actually said

Asked to compare the two McLarens after Saturday’s qualifying, where Norris took pole by 0.011 seconds over Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Piastri lined up seventh, Brown gave a measured reading of the gap.

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“I think you’ve got Lando on his A-plus game, so I don’t think there was anything left lap-time-wise there and so he found that,” Brown told F1 TV. “Oscar has been right there with him all weekend and just didn’t get that same extra [performance] that lap.”

There was no jab at Piastri, no ranking of world champions, no dismissal of the Australian.

The apology

By Sunday evening, Grosjean had posted a statement on his social media accounts.

“Today, I made a comment on Canal+ regarding Zak Brown’s comments about Oscar Piastri during an interview yesterday on F1TV, which I was part of. I completely misunderstood his words and want to apologise for that.”

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“I know how important it is to Zak and the entire McLaren team to respect their drivers and treat them fairly and equally.”

“McLaren had the fastest car today and were unlucky with the VSC. I’m sure both Lando and Oscar will have another chance to fight for the win in Baku.”

The reference to a Virtual Safety Car was to the mid-race intervention that let Mercedes’ Antonelli pit cheaply and take a win Norris had looked set to claim from pole. Max Verstappen finished second, Norris third.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku is next on the F1 calendar.

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