Lewis Hamilton avoids punishment for wearing nose stud, Mercedes receives fine
SINGAPORE -- No further action has been taken against Lewis Hamilton for wearing a nose stud during qualifying day for the Singapore Grand Prix, although his Mercedes team has been fined €25,000 for submitting a scrutineering form that declared Hamilton was not wearing jewellery.
Hamilton explained after qualifying that he was wearing his nose stud because removing it at previous rounds had led to an infection and he had been told by doctors to keep it in place to avoid the infection coming back.
The stewards at the Singapore Grand Prix accepted Hamilton's explanation, but still fined Mercedes for signing off a form that "declared that the driver complied with the requirement not to wear jewellery in the form of body piercing". However, the stewards noted Mercedes was unaware Hamilton was wearing the nose stud as he had been removing it at previous rounds.
At the start of the season, the FIA clarified a long-standing rule in F1's regulations that states drivers must remove jewellery ahead of track sessions. FIA race director Niels Wittich explained at the Miami Grand Prix in May that "metallic objects, such as jewellery, in contact with the skin can reduce heat transmission protection and thus may increase the risk of burn injuries in the event of a fire".
The jewellery ruling led to a stand-off between Hamilton and the governing body in Miami as the seven-time world champion said he could not easily remove a nose stud to comply with the rule.
An exemption was granted that lasted until the British Grand Prix, when Hamilton finally removed the stud ahead of the first practice session at Silverstone.
Hamilton explained that taking it in and out at the following rounds had led to the infection.
"I've had my jewellery and my nose stud for years and obviously we had that whole commotion at the beginning of the year," Hamilton said. "At the time it was like soldered in, so it didn't come loose. They gave me, at the time for many races, an exemption so I could find a solution. Then I went to get it taken out and tried to find a solution, putting it in and out.
"It got infected because of that and I was just continuing on with this infection. I got a blood blister and had quite a sore on my nose. Then I went back and had to have the blood blister fixed, because there was puss and blood.
"I put this back in and in the last two weeks it's started to heal and they've asked that I keep it in. It's crazy that we're having to talk about something so small. I take everything else out. At this point, I don't really care to be honest."
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