An unhappy Romain Grosjean admitted he phoned Toto Wolff after the Mercedes boss labelled him a moaner and declared he should count himself fortunate to be in Formula One.
Wolff was irked by Grosjean after the Frenchman called for Lewis Hamilton to be stripped of his pole position at the British Grand Prix earlier this month.
Grosjean believed he had been blocked by Hamilton during the final phase of qualifying and claimed that the Briton's antics cost him two places on the grid.
The stewards, however, took no action, which led Grosjean to accuse them of not wanting to meddle in the championship fight.
Grosjean's formative career was hampered by a number of crashes. He was branded a "first-lap nutcase'' by Australian Mark Webber and was even banned from the 2012 Italian Grand Prix after causing a huge crash at the previous race in Belgium.
When Wolff was informed of Grosjean's complaint against Hamilton at Silverstone, he furiously responded by saying: "There are some who moan all the time and just continue moaning.
"If Romain Grosjean comes out and starts asking for penalties for other drivers, you would rather look at his track record. He should be happy he is driving in Formula One.''
Grosjean, who has competed in more than a century of grands prix and is now in his seventh season in the sport, revealed he was upset by Wolff's remarks, and sought the Austrian for a response.
"I saw the comments and I was not very happy," Grosjean said ahead of this week's Hungarian Grand Prix. "I called Toto and we had a great phone call. We respect each other.
"There are tensions and they are fighting for a world championship. Probably some of my words were reported to Toto in a different way and then he got a bit upset.
"I did not mean anything against Lewis or Mercedes. I was just saying that it cost me two positions on the grid."
Asked whether Wolff regretted his remarks, Grosjean added with a smile: "It is in the heat of the moment, so, it's fine."
Source: PA
