Grosjean: Defensive moves weren't over the limit

Moving twice under braking to keep first McLaren's Carlos Sainz and then Renault's Daniel Ricciardo behind him, GPDA chairman Grosjean became the first driver of the 2020 season to be shown the black-and-white flag for unsportsmanlike driving.

Afterwards, the Frenchman was given only a warning by the stewards, but when questioned by journalists, pointed to similar moves employed by Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the past as justification.

"In both cases, I moved a little bit late, but I always left a car width," he explained. "They [the stewards] wanted to clarify the fact that we cannot move that late, which I agree with, but there were no real rules beforehand and Max [Verstappen] used it a lot during his racing so I thought 'Why not? Why not take advantage of that?'"

Electing not to follow the rest of the field into the pits during the first safety car period, Grosjean found himself battling among the points positions despite his slower car, and wanted to make the most of the opportunity.

"It is not every day we are running sixth or seventh in the race and I did everything I could to defend.

"Looking at them, I got a bit caught by my mirror which was twisted down at the beginning of the race so I couldn't really see much in them. I agree I moved a little bit late but I also left more than a car width."

Ultimately relegated to 16th after his own stop, Grosjean revealed that he had spoken to Ricciardo afterwards, and there was no bad blood between the two.

"I spoke with Daniel and he was like it was a bit marginal, not too bad," added Grosjean.

"I think Sainz was complaining a lot on the radio from what I heard but again, he could pass. There was a car width and I've got to do my race.

"If there is a clarification that we can't move that late then I will take that into account.

"To that point, I used the limit, I agree, but I was trying to defend as hard as I could."