An expensive piercing.
Admittedly, Lewis Hamilton will be authorized to continue to wear it during the Singapore Grand Prix (this Sunday at 2 p.m. on Canal +).
He will start in 3rd position behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
But his team was sentenced in the morning by the International Federation to a fine of 25,000 euros.
It has been forbidden since 2005 to wear personal jewelry in the race for security reasons.
Mercedes was given the penalty for submitting a form stating that the British driver had removed all of his jewelry and piercings in accordance with the regulations.
“In fact, Hamilton had removed the piercing before the competition, specifies the text.
The team assumed, without inquiring from Hamilton, that he had followed or would follow the same procedure for this event, the FIA stewards said in their ruling.
They accept that the reporting error in this case was not intentional or deliberate.
In these circumstances, we impose a fine of 25,000 euros on the Mercedes team.
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Lewis Hamilton will be allowed to keep wearing his nose stud at the Singapore Grand Prix for medical reasons, but his team were fined €25,000 (RM113,000) today for failing to notify stewards.https://t.co/pOhucXnqO9
— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) October 2, 2022
The seven-time world champion told the press that he wore the jewel again on the advice of doctors after suffering an infection when he took it off.
"The doctors asked me to keep it"
"I've had my jewelry and my nose piercing for years and obviously we had all this fuss at the start of the year," the Briton said.
They gave me for many races an exemption so that I could find a solution.
I tried putting it on and taking it off.
It got infected because of that.
I had a blood blister and a sore on my nose.
I put it back in and for the past two weeks it has started to heal and the doctors have told me to keep it on.
That's all I told them (Mercedes) before qualifying.
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For Hamilton, the fact that his jewelry is now such a problem is "a bit silly", even if the rule prohibiting pilots from wearing it exists.
"One of the best excuses I was given a long time ago was about heat and that if you're in a fire, metal conducts heat.
But our zipper is metal, the buckle around our helmet is metal, we have wires with aluminum metal in it.
The marshals should be there to ensure our safety, that is the most important thing.
It's crazy that we have to talk about something so small.
It's a bit silly.
Hopefully they will be reasonable.
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“Wearing jewelry is prohibited”
“Wearing jewelry in the form of piercings or metal chains around the neck is prohibited during competition and can therefore be checked before the start, recalled Niels Wittich, the FIA race director, before the start of the Miami GP. may.
Wearing jewelery during competition can hinder medical interventions as well as subsequent diagnosis and treatment if needed following an accident.
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