Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain. Photo / AP
Lewis Hamilton was "not trying to make a statement" by wearing a nose stud at the Singapore Grand Prix overnight, and the seven-time Formula One champion got his wish for leniency granted when stewards cleared him for putting it in again.
No action was taken against Hamilton, but his Mercedes team was fined 25,000 euros ($NZ43,850) for not declaring on their team forms that he was wearing the nose stud.
Hamilton said he explained to stewards before qualifying started that he needs to keep the stud in due to complications linked to a blood blister on his nose, which occurred because he kept having to take the stud in and out between races.
"It got infected because of that and I was just continuing on with this infection, and I had a blood blister and I just had quite a sore on my nose. This is all stuff I've told them (the stewards) before the qualifying," Hamilton said after finishing an impressive third in qualifying. "(I) had to have the blood blister fixed, because there was puss and blood. In the last two weeks it's started to heal and they (doctors) have asked that I keep it (the nose stud) in."
Hamilton said he has a doctor's letter showing all this and stewards accepted his explanation after reviewing footage.
"Broadcast footage showed HAM (Hamilton) wearing an item of jewellery in the form of a body piercing (nose stud) during the session," stewards wrote in their verdict. "HAM admitted this fact but explained that he had been advised by his doctors not to remove it for the time being. In response to a request by the stewards, the team produced reports from a medical practitioner which confirmed HAM's explanation."
Still, Hamilton doesn't buy the reasons given for not being allowed to wear jewellery in the car — the risk of fire and intense heat — and does not believe it to be a genuine safety issue.
"One of the excuses I was given a long time ago was about heat, and if you're in a fire metal conducts heat," Hamilton said. "But our (racing) suit is covered. Our belts, our zip is metal, our buckles ... It's all a bit silly. Hopefully they'll be sensible."
Shortly after third practice had ended at the Marina Bay Circuit, stewards announced Hamilton was being investigated for an alleged infringement of Appendix L, Chapter III of the FIA's International Sporting Code, which prohibits the wearing of jewellery.
The summons related to Hamilton's nose stud, which he had previously removed when the FIA's jewellery ban was applied.
"Basically, I've had my jewellery and my nose stud for years and we obviously had that whole commotion at the beginning of the year," Hamilton said. "At the time, they gave me a therapeutic exemption until I could find a solution. I went and got it taken out and tried to find a solution to put it in and (take) it out (between races)."
Hamilton kept his nose stud in at the Monaco GP in late May after motorsport's governing body extended the exemption on drivers wearing jewellery until the end of June.
He expressed frustration at the issue.
"Honestly, I feel like there's just way too much time and energy being given to this," Hamilton said in Monaco. "We shouldn't have to keep on revisiting this thing every weekend. We've definitely got bigger fish to fry."
Earlier in May, he protested the FIA's crackdown on body piercings by showing up at the Miami GP wearing every piece of jewellery he could fit on his body and suggesting he was willing to sit out races over the issue.
Leclerc takes Singapore GP pole as Verstappen aborts lap
Max Verstappen looked on course for pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on when his Red Bull team aborted his lap with just seconds left in qualifying because of a fuel issue and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole instead.
"Why? Why? Why?" Verstappen asked when told to box, before unleashing an expletive.
He soon found out why.
"They told me to box and then I realized what was going to happen. We ran out of fuel," Verstappen told broadcaster Sky. "It is incredibly frustrating and it shouldn't happen ... At least you (should) track that throughout the session to know you aren't going to make it. We should've seen that way earlier."
Verstappen starts eighth, although he's won from 14th on the grid this season in Belgium.
He was well clear of Leclerc at the time splits but Red Bull called him in as he was about to go under fuel limit regulations. Drivers can be disqualified if they don't have enough fuel left in the tank, which would have meant starting from last place.
Still, he was clearly displeased at what happened.
"I am not happy at all at the moment, I know of course it is always a team effort and I can make mistakes, and the team can make mistakes, but it is never acceptable," he said. "Of course you learn from it, but this is really bad. It shouldn't happen."
Leclerc clinched a season-leading ninth pole and finished .022 ahead of Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez and .054 clear of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
"It was incredibly close, a really exciting session," said Hamilton, who has a record 103 career poles but none this year. "A really clean qualifying session. It was so difficult to get that lap perfect."
Perez is confident he can challenge for victory.
"It's an opportunity tomorrow from the start to attack Charles and I'll go for the win," Perez said. "It's quite disappointing to miss out by two hundredths but at the end of the day I think they did a fantastic job. Very happy."
But Verstappen's grid position deals a blow to his chances of wrapping up the title on Sunday on a street track difficult for overtaking. That gives Leclerc a good chance to win his fourth race of the season.
"I thought we wouldn't get pole but it paid off and I'm really happy," Leclerc said. "It was really, really special, every qualifying in street tracks are super on the limit."
Leclerc called it "a matter of time before Max gets his title."
Verstappen leads Leclerc by 116 points and will clinch his second straight title only if he scores 22 points more than Leclerc, his most realistic challenger.
He must win to secure the title Sunday, along with two other scenarios involving Leclerc. If Verstappen wins, Leclerc can finish no higher than ninth; if Verstappen wins and earns a bonus point for fastest lap, Leclerc can finish no higher than eighth.
The race buildup has seen bickering between teams over an alleged 2021 budget cap breach by Red Bull, which drew an angry response from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Also, Hamilton was summoned to appear before the stewards for a potential jewelry breach shortly after third practice had ended at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The seven-time F1 champion was later cleared after being investigated for an alleged infringement of Appendix L, Chapter III of the FIA's International Sporting Code, which includes a prohibition on the wearing of jewelry. The summons related to Hamilton's nose stud, which he had previously removed when the FIA's jewelry ban was applied.
Hamilton said he explained to stewards before qualifying started that he needs to keep the stud in due to complications linked to a blood blister on his nose. Hamilton said he has a doctor's letter showing all this and stewards accepted his explanation after reviewing footage.
Meanwhile, two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso will start behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. and from fifth place in his record 350th F1 race on Sunday, which will be one more than 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen.
McLaren's Lando Norris was sixth and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly qualified seventh ahead of Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) in 10th.
Williams driver Alex Albon, racing just three weeks after being hospitalized with appendicitis and then suffering respiratory failure, qualified 19th.
He went out of Q1 with Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon — who have a combined 19 F1 wins. Bottas starts from 16th spot with Ricciardo 17th and Ocon 18th.
Earlier Saturday, Leclerc led a rain-hit third and final practice ahead of Verstappen. Half the session was lost as marshals swept water off the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) track, which mostly dried out for qualifying.
Midway through Q2, some drivers changed to the quicker slick tires while other stayed on intermediaries. Mercedes driver George Russell starts 11th after being knocked out of Q2 with four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).