Vitaly Petrov apologises for having criticised his Renault team

"Unfortunately I cannot say anything bad about the team, it says so in my contract," Petrov told Russian television.

"But many things have already been written about in the media.

"People say the team criticised the drivers. But excuse me; read my interviews, I haven't criticised the team despite what we have lost so many times. How much have we missed at pitstops? With strategy?

"We have lost positions in about 10 races or even more. Even without a fast car we could have gained good points, we could have finished with points if we had had a good strategy.

"But I couldn't say in interviews that we lost it with the pitstops, and I cannot talk about that now either. But I can't keep silent any more - it is over. I can't keep everything inside any more."

Petrov wrote a letter to the team on Friday, in which he apologised for his comments, saying they were inappropriate and unnecessary.

"You may have read some negative comments from me on the internet this morning," said Petrov in the letter, a copy of which was seen by AUTOSPORT.

"In an interview given to Russian TV straight after the race in Abu Dhabi, I expressed myself in an inappropriate manner; I criticised the team, your work and our lack of performance. This was unnecessary and I wish to apologise.

"I'm not trying to seek excuses, but I was still high on adrenalin from the race, I was exhausted and, just like you, I was very disappointed not to have made it into the top 10. I realise that the season is as tough for you all as it is for me, and I should not have said what I said.

"Once again, I would like to apologise sincerely and promise you that this will not happen again. We've all pushed as much as we could this season and I have one last opportunity to try and make you proud in Brazil next weekend. I will do my utmost to present myself in a better light there than I have today."