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LEWIS HAMILTON produced his best qualifying performance of the season – and then landed in hot-water with the FIA after defying their bling ban.Hamilton qualified in third place for Sunday’s Singapore GP behind Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez while Max Verstappen will start in eighth place due to a fuel problem.
Lewis Hamilton produced his best qualifying result of the seasonCredit: Rex
Sparks fly from Hamilton’s Mercedes in the floodlit sessionCredit: Getty
In another day of drama, Hamilton was hauled in front of the picky race stewards to justify his reason for wearing a nose piercing, which is a breach of the FIA International Sporting Code.
New FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has promised to get tough on drivers wearing jewellery in a row that threatened to overshadow the Miami, Monaco and British GPs earlier this year.
Hamilton continued to wear his nose stud and was granted a temporary exemption before he eventually backed down and removed it in Silverstone and for the subsequent races.
Yet in Singapore, he was seen wearing the stud in the cockpit – triggering a summons from the stewards.
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Hamilton, who was later let off, said: “I’m not trying to make a statement, no.
“Basically I’ve had my jewellery and my nose stud for years and obviously we had that 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 an exemption so I could find a solution.
“Then I went to get it taken out and tried to find a solution, putting it in and out. It got infected because of that.
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“I got a blood blister and had quite a sore on my nose because there was puss and blood. I put this back in and in the last two weeks it’s started to heal and they’ve asked that I keep it in.
“It’s crazy that we’re having to talk about something so small. I take everything else out. At this point, I don’t really care to be honest.”
Hamilton was asked about the reasoning for the FIA’s focus on such a trivial matter and added: “I really don’t know, man.
“I’ve got a letter from a doctor… I’ve tried my best. One of the best excuses I was given a long time ago was about heat and if you are in a fire metal conducts heat.
“But our suits are covered, our zip is metal, our buckle around our helmet is metal, we’ve got the wires with aluminium metal in them.
‘A BIT SILLY’
“So 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.”
While FIA medics supported Hamilton’s reasoning and took no further action, his Mercedes team however, were fined €25,000 (£22,400) for not telling the FIA he was wearing his piercing.
Meanwhile, Verstappen – who can win the title on Sunday if he outscores Leclerc by 22 points AND Perez finishes outside the top three – lashed his Red Bull team.
The Dutchman was furious after he was forced to abort his final flying lap due to running out of fuel.
He said: “On the final lap they told me to box and then I realised what was going to happen. We ran out of fuel.
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“It is incredibly frustrating and it shouldn’t happen. I am not happy at all at the moment.
“Of course it is always a team effort and I can make mistakes, and the team can make mistakes, but it is never acceptable.”
Hamilton has been reprimanded by picky FIA chiefs for his nose studCredit: Getty More

LEWIS HAMILTON could be sensationally handed LAST year’s world title after rival Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team were engulfed in a cheat storm.Red Bull, bidding to celebrate Verstappen’s second title win here at the Singapore race tomorrow, have been accused of breaking F1’s cost-cap rules.
Lewis Hamilton could be given last year’s world title after all to make up for his Abu Dhabi heartbreakCredit: AP
Verstappen and his Red Bull team are caught up in a cheat stormCredit: AFP
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff claimed it would be a “massively heavyweight” issue if Red Bull broke last year’s budget, which was set at £114million.
If they are found guilty, potential penalties include points deductions or even “exclusion from the championship”.
That could  see Verstappen stripped of the title he won last year in Abu Dhabi and Hamilton installed as winner for a record eighth time.
Wolff, Hamilton’s boss at Mercedes, was asked if it was serious or just usual F1 politics.
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He replied:  “That’s heavyweight, that’s massively heavyweight. It was a huge, mammoth project to make the cap.
“I don’t know how many tens of millions we had to restructure processes to be below the cap.
“We are using used parts, we are not running what we would want to run, and we are not developing what we could be developing.
“We have made more than 40 people redundant.”
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Red Bull are adamant that they submitted their accounts in March and are under the proposed cost cap.
The FIA are due to reveal their findings on Wednesday. More

RED BULL chief Christian Horner claims Sir Lewis Hamilton has never praised Max Verstappen before… despite records showing the opposite.Hamilton and Verstappen were embroiled in a heated rivalry last season, which ended with the Red Bull star picking up a controversial victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch the Formula One title.
Red Bull chief Christian Horner claims Lewis Hamilton never praised Max VerstappenCredit: Rex
But Sir Lewis Hamilton has indeed recognised Max Verstappen’s talentCredit: The Mega Agency
Max Verstappen was embroiled in a heated rivalry with Lewis HamiltonCredit: Getty
The Brit has been struggling to rediscover his old form this season and that has led the Dutch star fighting it out with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the top spot.
Horner believes there is a “mutual respect” between his driver and Leclerc because they have known each other since they were kids.
The Red Bull team principal claims he cannot recall Hamilton ever recognising Verstappen’s ability.
Horner told Beyond the Grid: “You know, there’s a difference, there’s perhaps a different respect with Charles.
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“They raced each other since [being] kids, and there was a mutual respect. I’ve never once ever heard Lewis recognise Max’s ability.
“And so of course, there was just a bit more needle to it and you could feel that, and you could sense that between those two drivers.”
However, the record shows that Mercedes driver Hamilton has indeed praised Verstappen’s skills in the past.
In fact, the British superstar went on record in 2020 as he said the 24-year-old is “such a great talent” that is so hard to beat.
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Hamilton previously told Sky Sports: “He’s such a great talent, he’s so fast and consistent.
“So it’s not easy to beat this young up-and-coming champ.” More

LEWIS HAMILTON has been given hope of a first race victory of the season – despite the seven-time world champion fearing he could end up winless. The Mercedes driver, 37, holds the extraordinary record of winning at least one Grand Prix in every F1 season since his 2007 debut.
Hamilton has had to come to grips with an underperforming car for much of the season but has been given hope of landing a win in SingaporeCredit: Rex
But with his Merc car inconsistent and Max Verstappen dominating the championship, Hamilton’s hopes of retaining his record appear slim.
He also only has six races left to break his duck, starting in Singapore next month.
But his hopes have been given a boost after one Mercedes chief shared a positive update.
Technical director Mike Elliot says the layout of the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore could play into their car’s hands, similar to previous races in Hungary and the Netherlands.
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The twisty-nature of the street track and the lack of long straights could work in favour of Mercedes and allow them to be competitive.
Elliot told Mercedes’ YouTube channel: “I think when you look back at the learning we’ve gathered over the season, we expect Singapore to be a bit more like what we’ve seen in Budapest and Zandvoort.
“It’s a bumpy circuit, which is going to provide its challenges. But in terms of the nature of the corners, we think it will be better for our car. So hopefully we’ll have a good result there.
“As always, we’ll do all the pre-simulation work we need to do, we’ll maximise our learning in the practice sessions and hopefully we can turn that into a good result on the weekend.”
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Hamilton did not appear nearly as hopeful about the team’s chances as he branded his former title rival Verstappen “almost unbeatable”.
The Dutchman has won the last five races as hopes of another tight championship battle quickly came to be dominated by the Red Bull driver.
The 24-year-old has won 11 of 16 races so far this season and is closing in on another F1 record.
Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher hold the title for joint-most wins in a single season with 13.
Given Verstappen’s form, he will be hopeful he can break the record.
His latest win came with ease at the Italian Grand Prix – but he was helped by a controversial late safety car. More

LEWIS HAMILTON can sleep easy knowing he’ll never lose the Formula One World Championship because of a safety car controversy ever again – thanks to a rule change.Max Verstappen edged the British seven-time champion to the crown in the final race of last year’s season in Abu Dhabi in shambolic circumstance.
Lewis Hamilton is yet to win a race this season following his 2021 heartbreakCredit: PA
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen looks set to make it two titles from the last two seasonsCredit: AP
The 24-year-old overtook the British legend on the last lap after a restart following a crash gave him the chance to catch up.
But under different rules in the Italian GP last weekend, Daniel Ricciardo crashed towards the end of the race.
And a decision was made that there would be no restart in the order the drivers were in – meaning Verstappen remained near the back of the queue behind the safety car after lapping opponents.
He could then not be overtaken by George Russell in second place as he was at the front of the queue of cars stuck behind the safety car.
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised the FIA’s choice not to restart under the conditions seen in Abu Dhabi despite the decision being criticised by fans and other team principles.
He also aimed a dig at ex-race director Michael Masi who was in charge during the controversial end last season.
Wolff told Sky Sports: “I’m really satisfied to see that there is a race director and colleagues that apply the regulations against the pressure of the media and the fans to just be in breach of the regulations.
“So at least Abu Dhabi in that sense gave the FIA more robust confidence to apply the regulations.
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“There was a car on track, there were marshals, a crane out there, that’s why they didn’t let anybody overtake and then there wasn’t enough time to restart the race once all cars caught up.
“If one is not happy with the regulations and you want to have a big bang show and two laps of racing and mayhem, I’m absolutely up for it. But then we need to change the regulations.
“So I don’t think we need to complain about anything that happened because this is the rules.
“I think we should all sit down and say ‘is there something we do better?’. But what happened is in the regulations book and that’s why it was applied.”
Hamilton himself commented on the contrast in decision comparing last year’s finale to what happened in Monza.
He said the weekend’s race brought “memories back” of what had happened.
The seven-time world champion also said: “Only one time in the history of the sport where they haven’t done the rules like that today and that’s the one where it changed the result.”
Christian Horner of Red Bull was less happy with the rules despite his man winning in Italy.
He said: “We don’t want to win a race under a safety car. It’s something we’ve talked about for many, many years, that they should finish racing.
“There was enough time to get that race going. I think they picked up the wrong cars, picked up Russell.
“We had the faster car and we would have liked to win the race on the track, not behind the safety car. We share the disappointment of all the fans, because it took away a grandstand finish.”
Daniel Ricciardo’s car caused the issue in MonzaCredit: The Mega Agency More

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed he secured his brilliant fifth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix with a damaged car. The Brit started 19th on the grid but battled through to pick up a useful ten points at the iconic Monza circuit.
Lewis Hamilton soaked up the sun at the Italian GP’s Monza trackCredit: Splash
And now the Mercedes star has revealed a “waste of space” part on his W13 car was damaged in the opening stages of Sunday’s race.
The much-maligned vehicle took a small knock on the front after hitting a piece of debris on the track.
After the dust had settled on championship leader Max Verstappen’s latest win, Hamilton explained he was unsure whether the early hiccup had slowed his race pace.
The seven-time world champion also admitted he did even not know what affected part does.
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Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t remember having any contact.
“I avoided collision but there was something definitely damaged.
“I think I hit a bit of debris as it came off another car and damaged the little fairing on the tyre.
“I have no idea [if it affected the car’s performance]. I mean the grip didn’t feel that great, it was flapping around.
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“I don’t even know what those things are for – waste of space.”
Hamilton has been critical of his new Merc car all season and is now sixth in the overall standings and 167 points behind Red Bull’s reigning world champion Verstappen.
Earlier this month he said the car’s changing level of performance is “like a mood swing” which leaves him with “no idea” how it will fare at every race. More