Grosjean admits Ericsson criticism "not nice"

The Haas driver's front wing was damaged at Turn 1 after contact with his Sauber rival, and Grosjean labelled Ericsson "idiotic" after the race.

Having seen the accident on television, however, the Frenchman said he had changed his mind about laying blame.

"I have seen the first corner incident again. Initially I didn't see it Toro Rosso cutting the track, so it wasn't as bad as I initially thought," said Grosjean, who had a heated conversation with Ericsson after the race.

"It was more like a racing incident. He could have done it a bit differently but it doesn't really matter.

"On TV I said he was an idiot, which wasn't nice from me, it was probably from the emotion of the race."

"Just because you're good doesn't mean you can behave like that"

Ericsson admitted he was surprised by Grosjean's behaviour after the incident, and reckons the Frenchman's insults were unacceptable.

"I was very surprised, to be honest," the Swede said. "Like I said after the race – for me it was quite clear when you looked at the video it was a racing incident.

"I had a car squeezing me from the outside and things like happen in every race, more or less. That is the way it is in racing at first corners.

"It was unfortunate that his wing went off, but sometimes it goes like that.

"I was just surprised by his behaviour afterwards – the way he approached me screaming and calling me different things. Just because you are a good racing driver doesn't mean you can behave like that off the track. For me it is not very nice."

Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov and Jonathan Noble