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Grosjean believes F1 rival Perez must learn to take blame

Romain Grosjean says Sergio Perez will have to learn to accept blame to become a better driver, in the wake of Felipe Massa's criticism of the Mexican's driving

Perez was heavily criticised by Massa following their crash on the final lap of the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this month.

Perez maintained his innocence but was penalised for causing a 27g crash for both drivers, leading Massa to label Perez "dangerous".

Massa later suggested Perez risked developing a similar reputation to the one Grosjean earned for causing various incidents in 2012, unless he learns to accept his mistakes.

Grosjean agreed it would be crucial for Perez to accept criticism in order to improve as a driver.

"If you want to improve you have to accept blame," Grosjean said when asked by AUTOSPORT whether the key difference between his and Perez's cases was Grosjean accepting he was in the wrong.

"When you have a bad day in the car, you have to look at what you could have done better and reset your mind.

"It's not because of blame that you can't trust people or work with them. Criticism is only to move forward."

MENTAL STRENGTH NEEDED

Grosjean said he worked hard with a psychologist to overcome his 2012 issues, which included a one-race ban for causing a massive startline shunt at the Belgian GP.

"In my case it was taking a little bit the wrong decision at some key points," Grosjean added.

"There's not much difference between getting it right and getting it wrong.

"I just needed to work, which I did with my psychologist, and we still work quite hard.

"It was [about] just getting the right objective [in mind].

"At one point everything I wanted to do was win a race, so from the start line to the first corner to the chequered flag it was all about winning.

"I was not focused anymore on the right option.

"It was certainly not the best time of my F1 career. You need a lot of mental strength to come on the grid when everyone is beating on you."

Grosjean also backed Perez, saying he had no personal issues with the way the Mexican has driven so far this year.

"Everyone has their point of view on the incident between Perez and Massa," Grosjean said.

"So far I had no big troubles with Sergio this year. I don't think there is anyone out there who is dangerous."

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