Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton says the nose stud that got him summoned to the stewards at the Singapore Grand Prix is in his nose because of a continuous infection that had created a “blood and pus” blister.
Hamilton was in something of a stand-off with F1’s governing body FIA over a newly-enforced ban on drivers wearing jewellery in the cockpit, and had to have a permanent nose stud removed in late June.
Yet he has again been wearing one on his nose in Singapore, also in the car, and had to face the stewards ahead of qualifying over a potential breach of the relevant chapter of the FIA International Sporting Code.
“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.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes team was summoned to see the stewards after qualifying for potentially having submitted an “inaccurate self-scrutineering form”.
Asked whether the stewards were accepting of his explanation, Hamilton said: “I really don’t know. I really don’t know, man.
“I’ve got a letter from a doctor, I’ve got… pfff… I’ve tried my best.”
He then questioned the FIA’s reasoning behind enforcing the rule – which is understood to be to minimise the possibility of damage caused by heat transmission.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
