Mercedes have been fined $25,000 because they failed to declare that Lewis Hamilton had his nose stud on during FP3 in Singapore.
Hamilton’s nose stud was in the news earlier this year when the FIA introduced rules that banned drivers from wearing any kind of piercing or jewelry during F1 sessions.
After some protest, Hamilton complied with the authorities. Ahead of the British GP, he removed the stud and it was the same for subsequent race weekends as well.
However, leading up to the Singapore GP, Hamilton’s piercings have come under the spotlight once again. The 37-year-old put his nose stud back on for FP3 and the stewards summoned him for breaching the sporting code.
#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬: Mercedes is fined €25,000 for submitting an inaccurate self-scrutineering form as the team manager “was unaware that HAM had a piercing and assumed, without enquiring of HAM” that he had removed it for this event, as he had in previous ones. pic.twitter.com/X4Qcja19jo
— deni (@fiagirly) October 1, 2022
For Mercedes, it resulted in a $25,000 fine. This was for sending an ‘inaccurate self-scrutineering form’, since the team manager was apparently unaware of Hamilton having his nose stud on. Hamilton wears a nose stud outside of F1 even now.
However, before getting into the car, he removes them. The team assumed that he had done the same in Marina Bay on Saturday, but the seven-time World Champion did not do so.
Also read: Lewis Hamilton net worth 2022: How 103 race winner saw $44.5 million rise in his personal wealth
Lewis Hamilton narrowly misses out on pole position in Singapore
Whereas Hamilton’s teammate George Russell got knocked out during Q2, he went on to fight for pole position late into the evening. In the end, he missed the pole by just 0.05 seconds.
He put his W13 on pole provisionally, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez put in slightly better laps to take P1 and P2, respectively. Hamilton will start the Singapore GP from P3, ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Starting P3 tomorrow, a lot we can do from the second row. Car felt great out there for most of it and it feels like there’s a real chance at a win tomorrow. Thanks always @MercedesAMGF1, heads down, see you tomorrow 🇸🇬 LFG!!! pic.twitter.com/SJHJMDkQ0e
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 1, 2022
Ever since making his debut in 2007, Hamilton has won an F1 race every single year until 2022. This is something he wants to change in the remaining six races of the year, even though it’s not his main focus. He recently insisted that he does not care about records, so winning a race this season is not something he desperately craves.
However, he plans on helping his team Mercedes with their development as much as possible.
Also read: “The last thing I would try is wine”: Lando Norris will never try $80 Daniel Ricciardo’s alcoholic drink
