INSIDER

01 THE LEGACY OF ABU DHABI: DOES F1 REALLY NEED THE FIA?

02 SINGAPORE SLUNG: RUSSIA WON’T BE REPLACED AFTER ALL

PICTURES

HOW JEWELLERY ROW BECAME A PROXY FOR F1’S NEW WAR WITH THE FIA

01 Lewis Hamilton arrived at the pre-event FIA press conference in Miami wearing three watches, four necklaces, eight rings, earrings in both his ears and a nose piercing. The seven-time world champion wanted to ensure his dissatisfaction with the FIA’s position regarding drivers wearing jewellery while driving F1 cars was clearly visible.

A rule forbidding it has existed for quite a while now, but the sport’s regulatory body – in the form of new race director Niels Wittich – has only really been seeking to enforce it since the beginning of this season.

Sebastian Vettel took a similar approach in mocking another recent FIA initiative to force drivers to wear fireproof underwear underneath their fireproof leggings by deciding to appear in the Miami paddock wearing a pair of underpants over his race overalls.

Both actions result from drivers’ growing sense of frustration with the FIA, born out of them feeling it focuses too much