06/05/2022
NEWS STORY
The FIA has agreed to give Lewis Hamilton a two-race exemption as its clampdown on jewellery - or we now call it 'Bling-gate' - come on, it had to happen - continues.
The move follows the seven-time world champion's claim today that he was willing to stand aside and allow a reserve driver to take the wheel of his Mercedes should the FIA press ahead with its ban.
"If they stop me, so be it," he said of the move whereby the banning of jewellery and unapproved underwear have been made part of the official scrutineering submission. "We have spare drivers, so we're ready and prepared for the weekend. There is lots to do in this city so, I'll be good either way!
"I'm willing to sign a waiver, to take the responsibility away from them, if they want me to," he added. "I tried calling (FIA president) Mohammed (Ben Sulayem) this morning, he was busy, but I sent him a message just reassuring him that I want to be an ally. I don't want to fight. It's very, very silly."
Since then, Hamilton has met with officials from the FIA's medical commission where both sides their respective cases forward.
It was eventually agreed that Hamilton would remove his ear jewellery, his nose stud, which is made from platinum and cannot be removed, will stay.
For its part, the FIA was keen to make clear that its motives were based on safety and had nothing to do with preventing drivers expressing themselves personally.
Those items which cannot be easily be removed, such as the nose stud - and no, we cannot believe we are writing this - may remain in place for the forthcoming Grands Prix in Spain and Monaco, though it is unclear if Hamilton will have to have it removed after that.
In the moments before today's opening session, Jo Bauer issued a scrutineering update in which he confirmed that Mercedes had "submitted a completely filled-in self-scrutineering sheet for the 2022 Miami GP".
Previously the scrutineering document had not made clear whether Hamilton was "complying with the requirement to not wear any jewellery, in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains or watches".
Check out our Friday gallery from Miami, here.