Sir Lewis Hamilton’s nose piercing is perhaps the most talked about piercing around the world, as the seven-time World Champion has once again been questioned by the FIA about his stud.
Much earlier in the season it was announced that the FIA would be clamping down on drivers wearing jewellery whilst in the cockpit, with the exception being for wedding bands.
Hamilton is, of course, known for having many piercings across his body; however, it’s his smallest which is causing the biggest headache.
The Mercedes driver was given a period of time to get all his piercings removed, some of which required surgery.
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It’s since been revealed that Hamilton has had to put his nose piercing back in, in accordance with what he’s been told by doctors, following a “blood blister”
Hamilton was called up to see the FIA over his piercing but presented them with a doctor’s note which appears to have stopped the 37-year-old from being awarded a fine.
The Brit is insistent that he’s not attempting to “make a statement”, but that he has to continue wearing the piercing to avoid further infections to his nose.
“I’m not trying to make a statement,” he said when asked about the nose stud.
“Basically I had my jewellery and my nose stud for years. And obviously we had the whole commotion at the beginning of the year, at the time it was like soldered in so it didn’t come loose.
“They gave me at the time, for many races, like an exemption until I could find a solution. I went and got it taken out, tried to find a solution, put it in and put it out.
“It got infected because of that. I was just continuing on with this infection. And I had a blood blister. Just had quite a sore nose.
“This is all stuff I’ve told them [the stewards] before qualifying.
“And then I went back and had to have, disgustingly, the blood blister fixed, so it was like pus and blood and stuff.
“So, put this in and the last two weeks it started to heal. And they [the doctors] have asked that I keep it in.
“So… it’s crazy that we’re obviously having to talk about something so small. I take everything else out [when I get into the car]. Yeah. At this point I don’t really care to be honest.”
It appears the note from his doctor may have swung the case in the Briton’s corner, with it seemingly inappropriate for the FIA to demand the opposite of what the 103-time GP winner has been told to do by medical professionals.
Hamilton believes he’s “tried” his “best” to get the FIA to understand that he can’t take the piercing out again but isn’t sure if the sport’s governing body got the memo.
“I really don’t know. I really don’t know, man,” Hamilton answered when asked if the FIA understood what he told them.
“I’ve got a letter from a doctor, I’ve got… pfff… I’ve tried my best.”
Somewhat comically, Hamilton told reporters of a discussion he had with pole sitter Charles Leclerc, regarding one of the excuses the FIA has given as to why jewellery must be removed.
The FIA have argued that wearing metal is particularly dangerous should a fire breakout in the car; however, Hamilton raised the argument during the post-qualifying press conference that a number of components inside the cockpit are too made of metal, making the FIA’s excuse somewhat bewildering.
“I was just saying to Charles [Leclerc, also present in the post-qualifying press conference] – one of the excuses that was given a long time ago was about heat, and if you’re in a fire, and metal conducts heat,” added Hamilton.
“But our suit is covered- we’ve got our belts, our zip is metal, our buckle around our helmet is metal… we’ve got the wires that we have, metal in there.
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“I don’t know. It’s all a bit silly. Hopefully they’ll be sensible. The stewards should be there to keep us safe, most importantly, but this is not a safety issue.”
Whilst Hamilton escaped a fine, Mercedes didn’t.
The FIA handed the Brackley-based side a €25,000 fine for a self-scrutineering form ‘error’.