Former grand prix driver Martin Brundle has found himself in hot water following an off-beat remark on British national television prior to Sunday’s Canadian grand prix.

While interviewing Bernie Ecclestone on the Montreal grid, the 49-year-old asked the F1 chief executive what he thought about the “pikeys putting tarmac down at turn 10″.

Used mainly in the UK, pikey is a slang term referring to gypsies, and Brundle’s comment is thought to have been a reference to door-to-door vagrants who ask householders to do odd jobs.

The watchdog Equality and Human Rights Commission condemned Brundle’s use of the word.

“This word has been used on television in the past and is highly derogatory,” a spokesman said.

“They have caused much offence in the past.”

The British newspaper Daily Mail reports that another ITV television reporter last year apologised for using the word on air.

A spokesman for the British network apologised for Brundle’s gaffe, but did not say if there had been any other complaints.

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