Kevin Magnussen has backtracked after comments made during the Canadian GP were interpreted as harsh criticism of his Haas team.
On the radio, the Dane said he suffered the "worst experience I have ever had in a racing car, ever".
It was too much for team boss Gunther Steiner, who told Magnussen "enough is enough".
But afterwards, Magnussen said his criticism was actually directed at Pirelli's tyres.
"Yes, it was the worst feeling I've ever had, but because the car is so good and so fast and so well designed. When we get laps on the tyres, nothing works," he told Ekstra Bladet newspaper.
"It's incredibly frustrating, but it's the same for the whole team," Magnussen added.
"My comment was not meant as a criticism of the team. More an expression of the huge frustration of being so helpless and slow in a car that is so good."
Haas has tried to get to the bottom of why its 2019 car is so bad on the 2019 Pirelli tyres.
Asked if he sees light at the end of the tunnel, Magnussen answered: "I don't know. When we can be so slow with such a good car, it is difficult to know what is up and what is down."
Boss Steiner said the American team will keep looking for answers.
"We have been really good in some places and completely useless in others, and we know exactly why. The tyres don't work. But we're not the only ones with the problem."
Steiner said the situation is not good for F1.
"It's no longer about how good your car is, but who makes the tyres work or not. It's a tyre-handling championship right now," he said.
"I cannot blame the drivers for what has happened so far this season."
