Due to medical necessity, Lewis Hamilton will be permitted to continue wearing his nose stud at the Singapore Grand Prix, but his team was fined €25 000 on Sunday for failing to tell stewards.
The governing body of Formula One, the FIA, imposed the fine after Mercedes submitted a self-scrutineering form claiming that the British driver had adhered to rules by taking out all jewelry and body piercings.
“Recently, Hamilton had the piercing removed before the match. The team presumed Hamilton had followed or would follow the same approach for this race without asking Hamilton, the FIA stewards said in their judgement.
The stewards acknowledge that the mistake in this case’s statement was not made on purpose or deliberately. In light of these facts, we punish the team €25,000.
According to seven-time world champion Hamilton, who removed the stud because to an infection, he was advised to do so by medical professionals.
Hamilton remarked, “I’ve worn my jewelry and nose stud for years and obviously there was all that hubbub at the beginning of the year.
It wasn’t able to come free since it was soldered in at the time. They granted me an exemption for many races so I could come up with a solution, stated Hamilton.
I tried inserting and removing it. Because of it, it became infected. My nose was pretty uncomfortable, and I developed a blood blister. I told them all of this before I was qualified.
The physicians urged me to leave it in after I put it back in since it had begun to mend during the previous two weeks.
“All kind of stupid,”
After qualifying third-fastest for Sunday’s race at the Marina Bay circuit, Hamilton was asked to go to the stewards’ room.
The stewards issued a statement stating that “broadcast video revealed Hamilton wearing a piece of jewelry in the form of a body piercing (nose stud) throughout the session.”
The team presented records from a medical professional that supported Hamilton’s statement. Hamilton “said that he had been instructed by his physicians not to remove it for the time being.
We decided to stop taking action in light of the mitigating circumstances.
Despite the regulation prohibiting drivers from wearing jewelry existing for decades, Hamilton claimed it was “all a little ludicrous” that it became a problem this season.
He replied, “One of the finest defenses I ever heard was about heat and how metal transfers heat in a fire.
Hamilton said, “But our zip is metal, our helmet buckle is metal, and we have cables with aluminum metal in them.”
“It’s absurd that we have to discuss something so trivial. Everything is a little goofy. I’m hoping they’ll be reasonable.
The stewards’ first responsibility should be to keep us safe. However, this is not a safety concern.