Lewis Hamilton has ‘no plans’ to stop wearing jewelry during F1 races despite renewed FIA ban

Lewis Hamilton insists he will continue to wear jewelry during Formula 1 races despite a renewed effort from the FIA to enforce a ban which has existed since 2004.

New race director Niels Wittich, who joined F1 earlier this year as one of two alternating replacements for the outgoing Michael Masi, informed drivers before last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix that the motorsport governing body would be taking the rule banning the wearing of jewelry on safety grounds more seriously as the season progresses.

The rule which Wittich wants drivers to follow reads: ‘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 has not been heavily enforced since its installation, however, and a number of drivers wear jewelry including wedding rings during races.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton wears an array of necklaces and a nose piercing throughout race weekends as things stand, and says that the semi-permanent nature of his piercings means he will ignore Wittich’s plea and continue to race with them.

‘I don’t have any plans on removing [jewellery],’ he said. I feel there are personal things, you should be able to be who you are. There’s stuff that I can’t move, so I can’t even take these [earrings] out. These ones on my right ear, they’re literally welded in. I [would] have to get them chopped off or something like that, so they will be staying.’

Wittich is also focusing on drivers’ underwear in his push for increased safety measures, insisting that racers should only be wearing fireproof garments when behind the wheel of the car. That led 26-year-old AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly to joke: ‘If they want to check my arse,