F1

Lewis Hamilton has received a two-race exemption from the FIA over the jewellery he cannot easily remove after holding talks with its medical staff on ...

"It's almost like a step backwards," Hamilton said. We've got a spare driver." The initial scrutineering document said Mercedes had not confirmed that Hamilton was "complying with the requirement to not wear any jewellery, in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains or watches" while in the car.

Lewis Hamilton has agreed to remove his ear piercings for the Miami GP despite calling F1's jewellery ban a "step backwards" and "unnecessary".

"At the end of the day, we have the responsibility to go out there, put our lives at risk... For example, if the drivers can prove to the FIA their jewellery is safe". and I do feel it should be a personal choice. Hamilton also explained: "I've been in the sport for 16 years and I've been wearing jewellery for 16 years. The ban on drivers wearing jewellery in the cockpit is focussed on safety and has been in place for a number of years. Lewis Hamilton has agreed to remove his ear piercings for the Miami GP despite calling F1's jewellery ban a "step backwards" and "unnecessary".

Miami Grand Prix officials have worked overnight to repair some minor areas of damage to the track surface that emerged on Thursday.

The problematic areas are believed to be localised, and there are no concerns about the rest of the track. The patches of damage emerged before any racing cars had run on the circuit, which thus far has only been used by the safety and medical cars, demo runs by supercars, as well as truck and crane activity associated with the building up of the circuit and bus tours of the track. The main area of concern is Turn 17, the left-hand hairpin before the final corners that lead on to the start/finish straight.

Mercedes has played down expectations for its Miami Grand Prix upgrades, but the Formula 1 team's ambitions are clearly based on a pretty innovative front ...

The beam wing elements have been revised too, with a very similar approach taken, as the chord length of the upper element has been reduced near the outboard end in order to reduce the load and drag being generated. Not only is the leading edge of the mainplane now upturned, there’s a novel approach being taken to the design of the intersection between the flapped section and the endplate in order to try to recoup some of the outwash that was lost with the new regulations. While at the back of the car, Mercedes has played things pretty conventional with its low drag rear wing, at the front it has taken things to the extreme with its endplate, which offers a hint at how it intends to push forward with the W13.

'It's s***': Max's 'extremely painful' flop, Mercedes' epic stunner — F1 Practice Wrap.

In a final rush, Verstappen regained brief control at the top of the order and Russell proved Mercedes’ rediscovered pace by taking second before Leclerc clocked his best ahead of the Briton. On a near-perfect day of blue skies and sunshine, the session began in hot conditions with an air temperature of 34 degrees and the track at 54, but with fast-forming clouds threatening rain. Sergio Perez was fourth in the second Red Bull, ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri, Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and Alex Albon for Williams. Fernando Alonso was fifth for Alpine ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri in a session interrupted by two red flags on a warm, dry day at the new Miami International Autodrome. Hamilton was given a late exemption to take part in the event with his nose ring following a clampdown on ‘driver bling’, having removed all of his other jewellery shortly before the opening session. Making the most of reliability problems for world champion Verstappen and the Red Bull team, Russell clocked a best lap in one minute and 29.938 seconds to outpace championship leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari by 0.106.

'What is going on?' Ricciardo escapes punishment for near-miss in wild F1 chaos.

Ricciardo finished the first practice session 10th – 0.023s ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris in 11th. Ricciardo was forced to front the stewards following the first session after a close call with Mick Schumacher between turns 16 and 17. Daniel Ricciardo endured a couple of close calls in the opening day of practice at the Miami Grand Prix, but the Australian was lucky to avoid a penalty in an incident-filled pair of free practice sessions.

Lewis Hamilton reckons the ongoing FIA clampdown concerning Formula 1 drivers wearing jewellery in the car is “unnecessary” and marks “a step backwards” for ...

I sent [bin Sulayem] a message just reassuring him that I want to be an ally. I don't want to fight with you guys over this. Gasly added that he wears a “religious item” and does “not feel comfortable not having it with me driving the car”.

Mercedes has played down expectations for its Miami Grand Prix upgrades, but the Formula 1 team's ambitions are clearly based on a pretty innovative front ...

Not only is the leading edge of the mainplane now upturned, there’s a novel approach being taken to the design of the intersection between the flapped section and the endplate in order to try to recoup some of the outwash that was lost with the new regulations. It’s clear to see that the geometry of the front wing’s upper flap has been revised, with the section that had previously been trimmed back returning to its regular curvature (new wing specification on the left, old on the right). While at the back of the car, Mercedes has played things pretty conventional with its low drag rear wing, at the front it has taken things to the extreme with its endplate, which offers a hint at how it intends to push forward with the W13.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton protested the FIA's crackdown on body piercings by showing up at the Miami Grand Prix wearing every piece of.

It's never been a safety issue in the past," Hamilton said. "Jewellery in and/or around the airway can pose specific additional risks should it become dislodged during an accident and either ingested or inhaled." "The wearing of jewellery during the competition can hinder both medical interventions as well as subsequent diagnosis and treatment should it be required following an accident." Hamilton has been pushing back since the FIA first announced a potential clampdown and said Friday he would sign a waiver assuming all responsibility. There's lots of things going on in the city, anyway, so I'll be good either way." "I think it is a bit unnecessary to blow this topic up and probably at this stage is more of a personal thing, I feel a particular way targeted to Lewis," Vettel said.

Mercedes' George Russell was fastest during Miami Grand Prix practice at the Hard Rock Stadium on Friday around the newest track on the 2022 Formula 1 World ...

Leclerc was the first to spin there, along with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, while Leclerc’s teammate Sainz suffered a huge spin at Turn 4. Charles Leclerc Sergio Perez Lewis Hamilton Fernando Alonso Lando Norris Pierre Gasly Zhou Guanyu Esteban Ocon Kevin Magnussen Carlos Sainz Daniel Ricciardo Yuki Tsunoda Sebastian Vettel Mick Schumacher Lance Stroll Alex Albon Nicholas Latifi Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas George Russell Max Verstappen Sergio Perez Pierre Gasly Carlos Sainz Alex Albon Lewis Hamilton Kevin Magnussen Daniel Ricciardo Lando Norris Fernando Alonso Zhou Guanyu Sebastian Vettel Esteban Ocon Lance Stroll Valtteri Bottas Yuki Tsunoda Mick Schumacher Nicholas Latifi

Hamilton threatened to spend the weekend seeing the sites of Miami instead while Sebastian Vettel said he thought the English driver was being “targeted”. Watch ...

We should be old enough also to make our choices inside the car.” Hamilton said his jewellery had never been a problem. I’ve had so many MRI scans, for example, and I don’t have to take out my platinum ones...” I have been wearing jewellery for 16 years. I have been in the sport for 16 years. “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!”

There's little grip outside of the racing line on the freshly resurfaced Miami GP circuit, leading to warnings that the passing opportunities on Sunday could be ...

“There is very high grip on the racing line and very low grip off it, which will make it difficult to overtake. I think they’ve done a good job in terms of chances of overtaking, we’re going to see good racing here with the long straights, as they start with a slow speed corner, which means you can follow close, so that’s good.” “Otherwise the track’s quite nice to drive – except for the chicane. It’s restricting, you can’t do many differences compared to other people, so it limits you a little bit.” It’s sometimes wet on that side and sometimes off-line, it feels very gravelly so racing will be hard.” That’s why you’ve seen a lot of people ending up in the barriers.

Mercedes' George Russell topped a heavily disrupted second practice for Formula 1's inaugural Miami Grand Prix, leading Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc while ...

That stood as the best time to the end, even after Leclerc attempted two more fliers on the softs – the first of which was with the same set of the red-walled rubber as his opening effort, which he abandoned after losing time to Russell in the middle sector. The Canadian was concerned his left-rear tyre was not attached properly before reporting a lack of driver, after which he pulled over and stopped near a gap in the walls, which led to a second red flag stoppage of four minutes. As Verstappen came back to the pits with what was later described as a hydraulic issue, his right-rear brakes caught fire and he did not return to the action. That meant Verstappen had missed the first half of FP2, but when he did leave the pits after the red flag stoppage, he quickly reported a severe steering issue, which left him touring slowly around – also getting in Lance Stroll's way dramatically as the Aston Martin came across the Red Bull, unable to turn fast even with full steering lock on, at the Turn 11 90-degree left at the end of the long acceleration run through Turns nine and 10. As the first 10 minutes of the one-hour session ended, Leclerc's first flying lap of FP2 ended with him going to the top of the times with a 1m31.131s, before Sainz – his opening run on the same set of tyres continuing – then getting back to first thanks to his 1m30.964s. But a few minutes after this, Sainz's session was ended when he suddenly lost the rear of his car going through the Turn 13 fast left just before the tight chicane late in the second sector and hit the wall on the outside of that complex.

Mercedes' move to introduce its biggest upgrade package so far of the 2022 Formula 1 season will not provide a “silver bullet” to fix its early struggles, ...

For the first time since 2011, it is yet to score a race win or pole position from the opening four rounds. “I think we're finally getting to a point where we feel confident that in races to come, we might be able to might be able to solve it. “But it's definitely going to give us a much better indication of the direction we need to take in future events.

Mercedes' big mystery; drivers warn 'racing will be bad' at Miami — F1 Talking Points.

But of greater concern to drivers is how slippery the surface is, particularly off line. He then binned the car in second practice, again before getting a run on the softs, to give his team a hefty rebuild and deprive himself of crucial track knowledge. “Otherwise the track’s quite nice to drive — except for the chicane. “I’ve given everyone a bit of a rough Friday night, which is not ideal,” he admitted. To be fair to Sainz, mistakes were common in both sessions on the green and scorching-hot track. So I know how to come out of it.” It’s still things that are, let’s say, a bit out of my control that are surprising me.” “I think we seem to be quicker here and later on [Mercedes engineers] were explaining to us that we definitely have improved in some way,” he said. “Of course I’ll try to catch up, but it’s just not ideal. “It’s definitely been a really productive day for us and probably the most productive Friday we’ve had.” But Carlos Sainz’s absence from much of practice was far more dire. This is a high-speed circuit, so cars are running with less downforce.

Trailblazing racer tells Giles Richards how he fought discrimination and is now a diversity advocate for Formula One.

“To have Lewis and Willy T to be the chassis with F1 as the engine, it is the greatest thing for the sport you are going to see right now in America, F1 has never been bigger.” “I see Lewis as the best ambassador for diversity and inclusion and I see Willy T Ribbs as the second-best ambassador. “When I used to talk with Muhammad Ali, he said to me that all people congregate to champions no matter what colour you are and Lewis is in that Muhammad Ali league,” he says. “We banged it up during the race, it was absolutely ruthless and fun but clean,” he says. This weekend in Miami, F1 is celebrating its new-found success in the US. There are two races in the country this year for the first time since 1984, next year with Las Vegas added to Miami and Texas there will be three. Over a long career he overcame racism that ran the gamut from what he describes as “opposition, barriers and denial based on one thing: the colour of my skin” right up to death threats, but faced it down with a fearless swagger.

Lewis Hamilton has received a two-race exemption from the FIA over the jewellery he cannot easily remove after holding talks with its medical staff on ...

We’ve got a spare driver.” The initial scrutineering document said Mercedes had not confirmed that Hamilton was “complying with the requirement to not wear any jewellery, in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains or watches” while in the car. Asked if he would step aside and not race in the event of a stand-off with the FIA, Hamilton replied: “If they stop me, then so be it.

Lewis Hamilton says the Miami Formula 1 circuit's tight uphill chicane reminds him of driving karts around B&Q car parks as a kid.

But once you go slightly offline, if you lose the rear end, you can't catch it any more. It meant that if drivers did stray off the racing line then they were almost guaranteed to spin. “That's kind of cool,” he said. So I don't know if they will be able to grind that at night and improve it.” “It is not an easy track for sure,” he told Motorsport.com. “Definitely when the track is green, it can happen more easily. “It's a corner where maybe in future they can remove that one and it will improve the track.”

George Russell remains unsure Mercedes' Formula 1 car updates are behind the team's improved pace on Friday in Miami, warning topping the times in second ...

“But this is the first real hot race of the season. Russell added that he was “not too sure” if the updates had given Mercedes a better understanding on the development direction it was taking with the car, but acknowledged it had been a good day for the team. But Russell warned it was “absolutely” too early for people to get ahead of themselves about Mercedes’ pace, admitting he was unsure why he had been so quick out of the blocks.

Lewis Hamilton says the Miami Formula 1 circuit's tight uphill chicane reminds him of driving karts around B&Q car parks as a kid.

It meant that if drivers did stray off the racing line then they were almost guaranteed to spin. “It's kind of crazy when you think that people in this day and age should be able to make a flat road relatively easy,” he said. But once you go slightly offline, if you lose the rear end, you can't catch it any more. “That's kind of cool,” he said. So I don't know if they will be able to grind that at night and improve it.” “It's a corner where maybe in future they can remove that one and it will improve the track.”

George Russell remains unsure Mercedes' Formula 1 car updates are behind the team's improved pace on Friday in Miami, warning his P1 result in second ...

“But this is the first real hot race of the season. Russell added that he was “not too sure” if the updates had given Mercedes a better understanding on the development direction it was taking with the car, but acknowledged it had been a good day for the team. But Russell warned it was “absolutely” too early for people to get ahead of themselves about Mercedes’ pace, admitting he was unsure why he had been so quick out of the blocks.

Sebastian Vettel says his brief appearance wearing his underpants outside his race overalls at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix was a “piss-take”.

“If I feel really comfortable in the car, then I think there's a lot more to squeeze," he said. "It's a tricky one,” he said of the circuit. And then on the other hand, there is the asphalt that is breaking up.

Drivers got to test the purpose built track around the Hard Rock stadium for the first time during Friday practice, with areas of it overlapping with ...

'That's kind of cool,' the Haas said. So I don't know if they will be able to grind that at night and improve it.' 'It reminds me of being in a B&Q car park:' Lewis Hamilton criticises new Miami GP F1 track and its tight chicane as Sergio Perez also shares 'extreme disappointment' over the circuit, fearing a lack of racing will take place

Sebastian Vettel says his brief appearance wearing his underpants outside his race overalls at the Formula 1 Miami GP was a “piss-take.”

“If I feel really comfortable in the car, then I think there's a lot more to squeeze," he said. And then on the other hand, there is the asphalt that is breaking up. I don't care, but it's just funny that we keep talking about it."

Fernando Alonso believes he is the most competitive he has been in Formula 1 since 2012 with Alpine despite only scoring two points so far this season.

“It’s a matter of time that the result will come. We didn’t finish the job. The car also feels good. “I was not as competitive as I’ve felt in these first four races. “I think we were top six or top seven, and that didn’t happen for sure in my McLaren years or my last few seasons in Ferrari or last year with Alpine. That’s the facts that I’m referring to, and that’s pure competitive places that we achieve in free practice and qualifying so far. Speaking ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Alonso said he thought he was in the most competitive position he has been for a decade, owing to both his own level of performance and Alpine’s pace.

Hamilton's scary Merc warning to frontrunners as Max faces race against time: Qualifying LIVE.

But it’s frustrating not to have that track time.” It meant the reigning world champ did not set a lap time and missed out on valuable practice time on the new track as Horner was left to rue the inability to carry out the team’s plan going into the qualifying session. Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton fired a major warning to the rest of the grid, claiming that the team’s cars “seem to be quicker” ahead of the qualifying session at the Miami Grand Prix.

Vettel protests the FIA by wearing underpants on the outside of his uniform in Miami.

When the most experienced people like Vettel and Hamilton mock the FIA, I think it's childish." "Obviously, if the car does catch fire, it will be unpleasant. the German quipped.

Formula 1 drivers have been told that watches will be added to the sport's jewellery ban, with fines for contravention of the rules potentially as high as ...

It kind of feels bad to take it off. And if something was going to happen, something bad, I would want to wear my wedding ring. A note in the F1 race director event notes for the Miami GP said: “In the interest of safety, watches will be considered as jewellery.”

Carlos Sainz says the Ferrari F1-75 is still 'surprising' him after his nightmare recent run continued at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.

And I just need a bit of a clean weekend to get going.” “And like Real showed, in sport, everything can change in a matter of minutes. “The heat is not making it easy on tyres, and I had this little snap coming out of the previous corner.

Miami Grand Prix chief Tom Garfinkel has defended the Formula 1 race's extremely high ticket prices, saying it is driven by how much demand there is for the ...

You can see a lot of different parts of the race track. There's a lot of different things with campus passes. "I mean, we never really did a public on-sale and we had so much demand that ticket prices were partly a function of that."

Formula 1 drivers have been told that watches will be added to the sport's jewellery ban, with fines for contravention of the rules potentially as high as ...

"With something like that, like your wedding ring. It kind of feels bad to take it off. And if something was going to happen, something bad, I would want to wear my wedding ring.

Sergio Perez headed final practice for Formula 1's first Miami Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, while Esteban Ocon crashed ...

As Verstappen was returning to the pits, Leclerc was beating Perez’s sector one time by 0.4s, but he lost all his advantage by the finish line to wind up 0.194s adrift, even as his late improvement meant he moved ahead of Verstappen in the final standings. But he did not stay top of long, as Verstappen’s purple sector one and personal best in the middle sector was enough to get him ahead of his team-mate with a 1m30.649s, even though he was slower than his own best final third on the mediums. That had Verstappen top by 0.050s over Perez, with Leclerc 0.332s behind in third, but after a trip through the pits Perez responded with purple sectors in the first and final thirds to move back ahead on a 1m30.304s just as the final five minutes arrived. After a slow cooldown lap nearly a minute off the pace, Leclerc went for another flier – setting a purple sector one before losing time in the middle segment and then clawing time back in the final third, but not enough to improve the top time as he ended up 0.053s slower than his personal best. He then pitted and the attention switched back to Red Bull, with Sergio Perez, who had also been doing high-fuel running during the early stages and so languishing in 18th, shooting ahead of Leclerc with a 1m30.699s as the session’s final 10 minutes began. The session started with track temperatures nearly hitting 50°C, a point which was reached and surpassed by FP3’s halfway point, and Verstappen led the field out of the pits – an atypical run plan for Red Bull in final practice, as the team usually leaves the garage late in FP3 to focus solely on qualifying preparation runs.

"Monaco is still always going to be in Monaco and that's because of the history," said Alfa Romeo driver Valterri Bottas.

But Monaco is still always going to be in Monaco and that's because of the history and it's a different place anyway.” Alfa Romeo driver Valterri Bottas joined in the chorus to keep the Monaco Grand Prix. "It's so nice to come to these events and they're amazing events. You really need to qualify and the race is very difficult to overtake or you need to take a risk. I can guarantee you that after 2022, the grand prix will continue to take place. “Others will remain but in a different form, such as rotating between different tracks.” And it's one way to race that you don't have anywhere else.

Sun. Sand. And speed. Welcome to Miami baby. Don't miss the first-ever trip to the home of party. Subscribe to TV Pro and witness every bit of the buzz.

Watch on web, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku and Chromecast. On every screen. Subscribe to TV Pro and witness every bit of the buzz. LIVE TIMING – AVAILABLE ON F1 TV PRO AND F1 TV ACCESS Every race. Don’t miss the first ever trip to the home of party.

Fernando Alonso believes he is the most competitive he has been in Formula 1 since 2012 with Alpine despite only scoring two points so far this season.

“And then again in lap one in Imola, we were out of the race. In the races, I think there were things that were out of our hands [happened] or just pure reliability problems. “We’ve been quite competitive every session that we did so far this year,” Alonso said of Alpine’s current form. “It’s never a guarantee,” Alonso said. It’s a matter of time that the result will come. “I was not as competitive as I’ve felt in these first four races.

Charles Leclerc took pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix at the Hard Rock Stadium, the fifth round of the 2022 F1 World Championship, ...

McLaren’s Lando Norris leapt up to third with a flying final lap, ahead of Perez and Sainz. He vaulted up to fifth quickest. Gap Time Driver Cla

Max Verstappen says Red Bull must 'start making the weekends less difficult' having missed most of Friday practice and was surprised to fight for pole ...

And actually to be that competitive in qualifying, I was a bit surprised because it's not an easy track to learn. "But we have to start making the weekends less difficult because like this you know it's always going to be tricky, but we have a good chance for tomorrow. "So the whole day today I was still trying to learn to track, trying to find a decent balance in the car.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, ESPN joined McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo for a morning of sun, sea and smiles in Miami's famous Biscayne Bay.

"Music and a machine -- it's all I want in life! "I wasn't expecting him to corner that hard," said one as we watched Ricciardo from an island in the lagoon. "I was always fascinated by two wheels," he says. It's a mix of work and play as he takes direction from a film crew on a boat, who are capturing footage for an upcoming product launch for Sea-Doo -- a manufacturer of 300-brake-horsepower playthings for the water. After over a decade in Formula One, Ricciardo is no stranger to adrenaline, but he's clearly still buzzing when it comes to interview time midway through the morning. "They say you can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds on this thing.

Hamilton said he would wear piercings after two-race exemption set to end before Monaco GP.

Failure to comply could result in fines of up to $265,000 or points on a driver’s licence but Hamilton is intent on continuing the stand-off not least because wearing some metal in the car remains acceptable. After taking sixth place on the grid for Sunday’s race, Hamilton was unequivocal in his determination. On Friday, Hamilton stated he would not remove his piercings, warning he was willing to miss the race over the issue.

Miami Grand Prix chief Tom Garfinkel has defended the Formula 1 race's extremely high ticket prices, saying it is driven by how much demand there is for the ...

You can see a lot of different parts of the race track. There's a lot of different things with campus passes. "I mean, we never really did a public on-sale and we had so much demand that ticket prices were partly a function of that."

Vettel protests the FIA by wearing underpants on the outside of his uniform in Miami.

When the most experienced people like Vettel and Hamilton mock the FIA, I think it's childish." "Obviously, if the car does catch fire, it will be unpleasant. the German quipped.