© Daimler AG
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix the FIA has highlighted their ban on wearing jewellery while driving, a move some feel is aimed at Lewis Hamilton.
The FIA has reminded Formula 1 drivers that they are not allowed to wear jewellery while driving their cars during on-track sessions, as stated in Article 5 of the third chapter of Appendix L from the FIA’s International Sporting Code.
The rule was highlighted in the event notes released by race director Niels Wittich.
“The wearing of jewellery in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains is prohibited during the competition and may therefore be checked before the start,” the rule states.
The rule was implemented back in 2005 in rallying, but was later adopted for all series governed by the FIA.
Autosport.com reports that the move “is not reacting to a specific instance of a certain driver being spotted wearing jewellery or leaving a body piercing in when behind the wheel of their F1 car in the 2022 season”.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
Instead, Autosport.com states that Wittich “is keen to ensure such standards are fully adhered to, thereby reducing the risk of a driver suffering an additional injury in a major accident in the context of Romain Grosjean’s violent and fiery crash at the 2020 Sakhir GP”.
Autosport understands that this is “related to multiple drivers from up and down the grid being spotted wearing jewellery – including rings and bracelets – when in their cars, which could also possibly even make escaping quickly from the cockpit of a wrecked car more difficult”.
However, while chains a bracelets are something that is easily removed, there is only one driver on the current Formula 1 grid who usually wears nose and ear piercings, and that driver is Lewis Hamilton. This prompted some fans to voice their displeasure, as they believe this is actually aimed at Lewis directly.
However, since the rule has been a part of the sporting code for a long time, at this point the move can be explained as the FIA simply being concerned about drivers’ safety.
