Romain Grosjean Disappointed Max Verstappen Hasn't Apologised for Monaco Crash

MONTREAL — Discussion (and disagreement) over the Romain Grosjean-Max Verstappen crash at the Monaco Grand Prix has spilled over into the Montreal paddock this week.

At the FIA press conference on Thursday morning, Felipe Massa reiterated the criticism he expressed for Verstappen after the Monaco race, saying it was correct that the young Dutchman was penalised for hitting the back of Grosjean's car.

Verstappen did not agree—unsurprisingly, considering his post-Monaco assertion to NBC's Will Buxton that Grosjean brake-tested him.

"Well, everybody can have their opinion, that's the first thing, but I looked at my data, I didn't brake any later," Verstappen responded in the press conference.

The FIA sided with Grosjean and Lotus after the incident, though, handing Verstappen a five-place grid penalty for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane explained why on his Twitter account:

Yet despite receiving an official sanction, Verstappen has not apologised to Grosjean.

Speaking with a small group of journalists Thursday afternoon in Montreal, Grosjean was in a good mood but said he was "disappointed" that the 17-year-old Dutchman had not expressed any remorse.

"We went to the stewards after the grand prix," Grosjean said. "I tapped him on the back, and he could have said 'I'm sorry.'"

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Grosjean is no stranger to crashes and controversy in his F1 career. In fact, he was banned from the 2012 Italian Grand Prix after causing an accident at the first corner of the previous race, in Belgium.

"I've made mistakes, quite a lot of them, been treated like the first-lap nutcase, which hurts a little bit," Grosjean continued, using the label former Red Bull driver Mark Webber gave him in that turbulent 2012 season.

"Max is really, really talented, and what he has been doing is quite impressive, but he has made a mistake," Grosjean said. "I find it disappointing he hasn't learned from it. Even this morning in the press conference he was saying 'I'm going to drive the same way.'"

Grosjean did learn from his errors and turned in an impressive performance in 2013, scoring six podium finishes.

Grosjean also hinted that the current testing restrictions in Formula One are not helping young drivers develop their skills, perhaps leading to incidents like the one in Monaco. "We don't drive much," he said. "It's like asking football players to only play during the games."

And Verstappen is particularly inexperienced, having just one season of open-seater car racing on his resume before he made the jump to F1 this year.

Grosjean also said that in the past, drivers made more mistakes when they were physically tired, but now mental fatigue is the bigger problem.

In the end, he said he has put the incident behind him.

Verstappen, meanwhile, is a teenager and entitled to a few mistakes. He is also a potentially great talent-in-the-making—something he demonstrated with his brilliant overtaking manoeuvres before his final one, on Grosjean, ended in the crash barrier.

Even if he won't apologise to Grosjean, Verstappen can start making up for his crash with a quick, clean weekend in Montreal.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

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