Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has been cleared to race Mercedes at the Bahrain Grand Prix after his earring was inspected on Friday.
Hamilton clashed with the FIA last year over a jewel he uses in a nose piercing and was cleared to wear it at the Singapore Grand Prix in October.
Hamilton explained to the race stewards at the time that he had to keep the earring on due to complications from a blister on his nose that occurred from having to remove the earring before the races.
The FIA made no mention of the earring in its statement on Friday, but released the verdict of the medical exception for the seven-time F1 champion over “disfigurement concerns.”
The stewards considered a violation of Article 5 of the FIA sporting code – regarding wearing jewelery – and decided not to take further action against Hamilton after speaking with a Mercedes representative and receiving a medical exception report.
“The stewards consulted with the FIA medical delegation, who reviewed the medical report, examined the driver and gave their opinion,” the FIA added in the statement. “We have determined to take no further action on concerns of disfigurement from the continued attempts to remove the device.”′
In May, Hamilton protested against the FIA rule by arriving at the Miami Grand Prix with all the jewelery he could carry and suggested he was prepared not to race over the matter.
He kept the earring at the Monaco Grand Prix in May after the FIA extended the jewelery exception, but said he was frustrated by the matter.
Hamilton did not win a race last year for the first time in his career dating back to 2007.
On Friday – he finished tenth in the first practice – two seconds behind the Red Bull of Mexican Sergio Pérez – and eighth in the second session, which concluded under the spotlight in the Sakhir desert.
He believes that Mercedes, which only won one race in 2022 with George Russell, is still far from Red Bull.
“We’re very far away. We already sensed it in the tests “(pre-season),” Hamilton acknowledged. “In the long sessions Red Bull was one lap faster.”
