“I Said Something That I Shouldn’t Have”- Romain Grosjean “Sorry” for Press Conference Remark Against Haas F1

Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean has apologized to the American team for his comments on “the elephant in the room”. The Frenchman clarified that he had no intention of creating controversy for Netflix or any other reason.

Team Principal Guenther Steiner responded to Grosjean’s comments, saying he was “amazed” when he first read them.

At the pre-race press conference ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Grosjean referenced the team’s future in F1 beyond 2020. The Frenchman said:

“There’s a lot of question marks here, but let’s get rid of the elephant in the room: is Haas going to be here next year or not?” said Grosjean.

There is no problem: Romain Grosjean

“Gene [Haas, team owner] knows the answer I guess, or doesn’t know, and will tell the answer at one point. And, until that point, I can’t really give you any direction.”

On catching wind of the remark, Steiner initially advised Grosjean to look out for his own future instead of worrying about the team.

“I think his answer was the wrong answer. Because he was asked what he is doing, and he spoke for the team. I think the elephant is in his room, not in our room,” as quoted by Motorsportweek.com.

Recently, Grosjean apologized for his remarks and cleared the air over his intentions.

“I’m sorry if I said anything wrong,” he said. “I didn’t want to create anything. So, no, there’s no Netflix episodes, there is no problem.

“I said something that I shouldn’t have said, and then… you know I’m sorry for the team. And all good,” said Grosjean as quoted by Motorsport.com

Haas F1 is in the midst of a financial crisis with its future in the sport hanging in the balance. The team endured a miserable season last year, which seems to have carried over in 2020.

Despite scoring an unlikely point last week, Haas‘ days in F1 could be numbered if the team fails to achieve positive results consistently.

“I think he realized. It was a tough question and he answered in a way, maybe, after thinking he didn’t want to answer. And he didn’t maybe mean what he said, you know. I have no problem” said Steiner.