Just minutes after Lewis Hamilton battled for pole position at the Marina Bay circuit, finishing third, Mercedes received a notice that the seven-time world champion might have broken the regulations with the car.
One of the stewards said that a representative of the German team will have to testify to the stewards due to an “inaccurate control form”, which could mean that they had found an anomaly in the #44 car according to the regulations.
Since the beginning of 2019, Formula 1 has introduced a system through which the FIA no longer examines each car before going on track. Instead, a system of self-scrutiny has come into force in which teams confirm that their cars comply with current regulations.
Article 31.1 of the F1 Sporting Regulations says: “Each competitor must carry out an initial scrutiny of their cars four (4) hours before the start of FP1 and then present said declaration no later than two (2) hours before the start. of FP1. The form template will ultimately be provided by the FIA.”
Any team that does not complete the scrutiny form on time will be called to testify before the stewards for a possible rule violation.
The regulations explain that at any time during the weekend more checks can be carried out to ensure that the car complies 100% with the rules.
That usually happens after the first official sessions of each grand prix, especially after qualifying and the race.
The FIA has not offered any explanation as to what specific problem it has found with the #44 Mercedes car.
However, Motorsport.com understands that Hamilton’s problem stems from the fact that he had been called to testify before the stewards for a possible breach of the jewelery ban.
Hamilton has been seen wearing a nose piercing throughout the weekend at the Singapore GP, something he had to explain to the FIA.
Earlier this season, the FIA made it clear that it would enforce a jewelery-related ban that has been in the International Sporting Code for all these years, but has never been rigorously implemented before.
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