Sir Lewis Hamilton feels as though he was targeted by the FIA when they clamped down on jewellery in motorsport, and he criticises those who try to deny him having a personality.
One of the key things new FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem has endeavoured to do in recent months has been to adhere to the regulation introduced in 2005.
The legislation covered all areas of global motorsport, and dictated that no jewellery is to be on a driver’s person when they enter the car due to the hazards attached to it.
At the time, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien were the only Formula 1 drivers who wore metallic objects in the car, and while Klien was happy to oblige, Liuzzi had no interest in following the law.
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Since then, drivers have been getting away with wearing wedding rings and watches when in the car, while Hamilton has ear piercings and a nose stud.
The Briton has been wearing jewellery more or less since he started racing in the pinnacle of motorsport in 2007.
This year, race director Niels Wittich was set on the drivers by ben Sulayem, and he warned them of the dangers of wearing jewellery in the car.
The German also reminded them that metal makes it more difficult to remove their balaclava if they suffer a bad crash, and it can affect medical imaging too.
One of Hamilton’s issues with the enforcement of the rule was that it has taken 17 years for the FIA to start applying the law they created, and the other – perhaps more importantly – was that it denies him the chance to express himself as a person.
“I didn’t feel like I was welcome, I didn’t feel like I was accepted,” he told Vanity Fair.
“God knows how many of these drivers say, ‘this is not what a Formula 1 driver is, that’s not how you behave, this is not how you do it.
“‘Tattoos? No! A Formula 1 driver doesn’t have tattoos! A Formula 1 driver doesn’t have a personality—and piercings!’”
The seven-time champion feels that ben Sulayem has got his hands on some power, and he is now using it for the sake of it.
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“People love to have power, and to enforce power,” explained Hamilton.
Since Hamilton is the only driver on the grid that wears jewellery, he naturally concludes that the directive from the FIA was aimed at him.
“I mean, yeah, because I’m the only one that has jewellery on, really,” he added.
Hamilton previously revealed that his nose stud was a permanent fixture, so he could not physically remove it without breaking it.
He also said that he had another one in an area of his body he would rather not speak about, but he now reveals that he does not have any down there, he just wanted to kid everyone into thinking he did.
“I was just f****** with it, I don’t have any other piercings anywhere, but I love that there’s this thinking: ‘S***, has he got his balls pierced?’” he joked.
Hamilton earned his sixth podium of the season in Budapest before the summer break, and George Russell’s P3 moved Mercedes to within 30 points of second-placed Ferrari in the Constructors’ Standings.