SAKHIR, Bahrain: Formula One great Lewis Hamilton was cleared to race for Mercedes at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix after having his jewelry inspected on Friday.
Hamilton clashed with governing body FIA last year over the wearing of jewelry, and his nose stud was cleared at the Singapore GP in October.
Hamilton explained to stewards at the time that he had to keep the stud in because of complications linked to a blood blister on his nose, which occurred because he kept having to take the stud out for races.
The FIA did not mention his nose stud in its statement on Friday, but said in its verdict that the seven-time F1 champion received a medical exemption relating to “concerns about disfigurement.”
The stewards considered a breach of Article 5 of the FIA sporting code — the wearing of jewelry — and took no further action against Hamilton after hearing from a Mercedes team representative and receiving a medical report requesting an exemption.
“The stewards consulted the FIA medical delegate, who viewed the medical report, examined the driver and concurred with the opinion therein,” the FIA statement said. “We have determined to take no further action as there are concerns about disfigurement with frequent attempts at removal of the device.”
Last May, Hamilton protested the FIA crackdown on jewelry — such as body piercings — by showing up at the Miami GP wearing every piece of jewelry he could fit on his body and suggesting he was willing to sit out races over the issue.
He kept his nose stud in at the Monaco GP in late May after FIA extended the exemption on drivers wearing jewelry, but expressed frustration at the issue.
“Honestly, I feel like there’s just way too much time and energy being given to this,” Hamilton said in Monaco. “We shouldn’t have to keep on revisiting this thing every weekend. We’ve definitely got bigger fish to fry.”
Hamilton failed to win a race last year for the first time in his career dating to 2007.
On Friday, he was 10th in the first practice — around two seconds behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez — and eighth in the second session, which finished under floodlights at the desert track in Sakhir.
He feels Mercedes, which won only one race in 2022 through George Russell, is still far off the pace from favorite Red Bull.
“We’re a long way off. We kind of knew that a little bit in the (preseason) test,” Hamilton said. “Red Bull on the long runs were a second-a-lap faster.”
Russell was 11th in P1 and drifted to 13th in P2.
“We’ve got a lot to work with,” Hamilton said. “I think I’ve got the car to the best place I can get it, set-up wise. We’ll continue to tweak bits here and there.”
Hamilton cleared to race in Bahrain after jewelry inspected
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Hamilton cleared to race in Bahrain after jewelry inspected
- Hamilton clashed with governing body FIA last year over the wearing of jewelry
- He explained to stewards at the time that he had to keep the stud in because of complications linked to a blood blister on his nose
Sanders crashes out of Dakar Rally contention and Al-Attiyah reclaims car lead
- The Australian’s KTM finished 28 minutes behind stage 10 winner Adrien van Beveren’s Honda
- Al-Attiyah has a sixth Dakar triumph in sight
BISHA, Saudi Arabia: Dakar Rally front-runner Daniel Sanders crashed and fell out of motorbike title contention and Nasser Al-Attiyah snatched back the car lead in the Saudi desert on Wednesday.
Sanders broke his left collarbone and sternum jumping a dune 138 kilometers into the 368-kilometer second half of a marathon stage to Bisha. The defending champion continued but slower and within 30 kilometers his six-minute overnight lead was gone.
The Australian’s KTM finished 28 minutes behind stage 10 winner Adrien van Beveren’s Honda and he dropped from first overall to fourth, more than 17 minutes back, two minutes off the podium.
That left the title to be decided between new leader Ricky Brabec and Luciano Benavides, second and third on the stage. The American’s Honda and Argentine’s KTM were separated overall by 56 seconds ahead of, effectively, a two stage shootout. The final stage on Saturday is usually a ceremonial ride.
Brabec won the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 while Benavides has never won; best placing was fourth last year.
Al-Attiyah has a sixth Dakar triumph in sight.
The dunes specialist from Qatar stamped his authority on the sandy special to finish second to Mathieu Serradori, who gave South African manufacturer Century its first Dakar stage win.
Serradori won his second career stage by six minutes.
The Fords of Nani Roma (first overnight), Carlos Sainz (second) and Mattias Ekström (fifth) were the biggest losers.
Ekström was first to the checkpoint at 91 kilometers but moments later suffered a mechanical problem. Roma lost his way and dropped 10 minutes just before passing 200 kilometers. Sainz also made a navigation error in the soft sand.
“I’m knackered, my back hurts, I suffered a lot today,” Roma said. “But that’s part of the game.”
Also, Toyota’s Henk Lategan, fourth overnight, ran out of fuel and made a navigation error.
Al-Attiyah grabbed the provisional overall lead about 200 kilometers into the 420-kilometer special and topped a Dacia 2-3-4 stage finish with Sébastien Loeb and Lucas Moraes.
“My head and body have taken a real beating,” Al-Attiyah said. “But we really attacked from start to finish. Fabian (Lurquin, navigator) did a great job and we can feel both happy and lucky because it was really hard.”
Overall, Al-Attiyah earned his biggest lead yet, over Lategan by 12 minutes, Roma by nearly 13 and Loeb by 23. Ekström and Sainz fell more than 34 minutes back.
