Lewis Hamilton was the driver who raised his voice the most at the time against the FIA when the new Race Directors decided to give more importance to the “jewelry rule”, forcing drivers to compete without their earrings, piercings, watches or rings .
The FIA severely called the drivers’ attention at the 2022 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend to this rule and also reminded them that they must also wear fire-retardant underwear when behind the wheel of their cars.
Some pilots obeyed almost automatically, since this rule was created for safety reasons, since in the event of an accident or burn, wearing jewelry can considerably aggravate physical damage.
However, Hamilton said he had been racing like this since 2007, so he saw no reason to ditch his jewelry when he got into his Mercedes. Since then, the seven-time world champion has been defiant, appearing at several press conferences with a multitude of jewels and watches placed all over his body in a kind of ‘defiance of the rules’.
The British driver also assured that he could not remove some of his piercings without surgery and, for this reason, the FIA granted him a reprieve until the 2022 Formula 1 British Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at Silverstone .
The governing body of the highest category of motorsports explained at the time that any driver who fails to comply with this rule would receive a harsh economic penalty, regardless of the reason for which he had violated the rules, a sanction that would start with a fine of 50,000 euros that would rise up to 250,000 euros in the event of being a repeat offender.
That defiant attitude from Hamilton appears to have come to an end at Silverstone, coincidentally coinciding with the end of his exemption. The Mercedes driver seems to have taken a step backwards, removing all the jewelery from the first free practices on Friday, including his famous nose piercing, as can be seen in the images.
In this way, the seven-time world champion would be complying with the regulations regarding jewels like the rest of the drivers, so he will not have to pay any fine to the FIA, we will see in the next races if Silverstone is just one exception or if the battle between both parties is finally over.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 driver
