LEWIS HAMILTON is expected to be hit with a fine for breaking F1’s bling ban.
The Mercedes ace, 37, has been called to the stewards at the Singapore Grand Prix relating to a breach of Appendix L, Chapter III of the FIA International Sporting Code.
That relates to a driver’s helmet, clothing and jewellery – an item that new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has promised to get strict on.
His ban on jewellery threatened to overshadow the Miami, Monaco and British GPs earlier this year, as Hamilton refused to remove his nose stud.
However, the Brit eventually backed down and removed the offending piercing in Silverstone and in the subsequent races.
Yet in Singapore, Hamilton was wearing the stud in a morning PR event and while it is currently unknown if he was still wearing it for third practice, it could be the item has triggered the call from the stewards’ office.
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However, the stud appeared to still be in the seven-time F1 world champ’s nose as he wore his helmet while sat in his car in the garage.
If he is found to be guilty, he will be fined and warned about removing the nose stud in future.
Hamilton admitted in August he felt like an outcast when he entered F1 because of his tattoos and jewellery.
He said: “I didn’t feel like I was welcome. I didn’t feel like I was accepted.
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“God knows how many of these drivers say, ‘This is not what a Formula 1 driver is. That’s not how you behave. This is not how you do it.
“‘Tattoos? No! A Formula 1 driver doesn’t have tattoos! A Formula 1 driver doesn’t have a personality – and piercings!’
“As I said, I can’t remove at least two of them. One, I can’t really explain where it is.
“I was just f***ing with it!
“I don’t have any other piercings anywhere. But I love that there’s this thinking, ‘S***, has he got his balls pierced?'”
The Hamilton drama comes against the controversial backdrop of the row over Red Bull’s spending.
Christian Horner slammed his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff who accused his team of being in breach of the cost-cap limit, which forces teams to limit their spending.
The sport’s governing body will announce their report on Wednesday – with rumours rife that Red Bull and Aston Martin have fallen foul of the $145m (£114m) limit.
The list of penalties include excluding team’s from last year’s championship – which would sensationally hand Max Verstappen’s controversial title he won in Abu Dhabi to Merc’s Lewis Hamilton.
While that outcome is unlikely, Horner has questioned how Wolff – and also Ferrari – seem to know his team’s business and has hinted he could take legal action for defamation.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
