Mercedes fined while Lewis Hamilton gets clean chit at 2022 F1 Singapore GP

While Lewis Hamilton escaped any kind of penalty for keeping his nose stud on during FP3, Mercedes was fined €25,000 for filing an inaccurate self-scrutineering form. According to the FIA directive, no driver is supposed to have any jewelry on him while driving the car. Earlier in the season, this had led to Hamilton removing his jewelry.

The nose stud, however, made a return due to which Hamilton was called by the stewards before qualifying. While the driver got a clean chit, Mercedes did not as it was fined for filing an inaccurate self-scrutineering form which had to be filled out before a driver sat in the car.

In a statement issued by stewards, extenuating circumstances were given as the reason behind no action being taken by the stewards. The statement read:

"The stewards then consulted the FIA deputy medical delegate, Dr. Ian Roberts, who viewed the medical report and concurred with the opinion therein. In light of the extenuating circumstances, we have determined to take no further action."

When questioned about him getting summoned by the stewards, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he had to consult a doctor after incurring an infection on his nose. He said:

"I'm not trying to make a statement [by wearing the nose stud on track]. Basically, obviously I've had this - my jewellery and my nose stud - for years. And obviously we had that whole commotion at the beginning of the year and at the time it was like soldered in so it didn't come loose."

He added:

"They gave me at the time, [then] for many races, an exemption until I could find a solution. And then I went and got it taken out and tried to find a solution to put it in and pull it out [regularly]. It got infected because of that and I was just continuing on with this infection. Then I had a blood blister and I was going on about it – I just had quite a sore on my nose.

Lewis Hamilton further explained the discomfort he felt on his nose as he said:

"Then I went back and had to have – disgustingly – the blood blister fixed because there was like pus and blood and stuff. Then I put this in and the last two weeks it's started to heal and they've [medical staff] asked me to 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."

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It's all a bit silly!: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton then went on to question the logic behind the directive. He talked about how jewelry was exempted because it was metal but other apparatus like the helmet or the seatbelt is also metal. He said:

"I've got a letter from the doctor. I've tried my best and, as I was just saying to Charles [Leclerc, who sat alongside Hamilton in the press conference], one of the excuses [for the jewellery crackdown] that was given a long time ago was about heat and if you're in a fire and [how] metal conducts heat."

The Mercedes driver further went on to dismiss the whole thing as silly and not worth discussing. He said:

"But our suits are covered [in metal]. Our seatbelts, the [firesuit] zip is metal, the buckle around your helmet is metal, the wires that we have [to connect to the car] there's 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."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton will start the 2022 F1 Singapore GP in P3 behind Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez.