The debate on the jewelery and underwear ‘case’ that has put the FIA and two of the most prominent drivers of the Circus in opposition continues to hold its own in the Formula 1 paddock: Lewis Hamilton And Sebastian Vettel. The two veterans, who together add up 11 world titles and 156 GPs won, have in fact contested in a blatant and provocative way the diktat sent by the Federation which obliges all pilots to remove any type of jewel – be it ring, bracelet, watch, necklace or piercing – from your own body when taking to the track for an official session. Added to this was the imposition of always wearing, under the suit, an underwear that complies with the regulations and is fireproof. Hamilton has decidedly taken the imposition on jewels and, despite an exemption up to the Monte Carlo GP guaranteed by the race management to allow him to remove some piercings, he does not seem willing to give up at the moment. Vettel, on the other hand, challenged in Miami the obligation on the type of underwear to wear, provocatively slipping his underpants over his racing suit in the paddock.
In support of the indication arrived from FIA and based on safety criteria, however, he expressed himself Alexander Wurz, president of the pilots association, the GPDA. Speaking to the English site Reuters the former Austrian driver partially contested the method adopted by the Federation, but said he was in agreement with the content of the directives. “It is a rule that exists for the right reasonsi – declared the former Benetton standard bearer – I probably would have preferred a slightly different approach to how to get the message across. I don’t want to end up like in football, where there are hands up and verbal abuse. We need to work together. It’s a style that I would have preferred in this case “.
Wurz, however, agreed on the safety risk that jewelry and underwear can bring, also citing the case of a pilot from the past: Kris Nissen. The Dane had a terrible accident at Fuji in 1988 at the wheel of a Porsche 962 which he left with very painful burns all over the body. “He showed his body and said ‘look at this’ – recalled Wurz – for him the most painful thing ever after the fire, and it wasn’t a long fire, was the (elastic) rubber of his regular pants that burned into his skin. He said that he (he suffered) agony for years. This educated me. At that moment I told myself that I don’t want to experience similar consequences just for (not) taking off my pants and putting on fireproof underwear. The same goes for jewels “he concluded.
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