MELBOURNE, Australia – Driving underwear, or lack thereof, was an unexpected focal point during Friday night’s Formula One driver briefing at Albert Park.
New race director Niels Wittich has informed all drivers ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that the sport will begin to restrict what they are allowed to wear underneath their racing suits, stressing that it must compliance with longstanding FIA regulations.
Under Annex L of the FIA’s International Sports Code, drivers must wear flame-retardant underwear that complies with the FIA’s strict standards. They cannot wear any material that does not meet the requirements.
“It was quite a long discussion [and] Some people have changed some of their underwear-wearing procedures,” Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri, who attended the driver rollout, told Sky Sports. It’s a controversial topic because you’ll be in commando if you’re not wearing your gear. “
Drivers will be given a number of events before the enforcement of the rules is applied. If a driver is found not to comply with these regulations after F1’s extension period, the penalty could be a fine or reprimand.
The driver underwear control comes just 24 hours after Wittich, who earlier this year replaced Michael Masi as F1 race director, released his event notes for the race in Melbourne. In the document, he issued a reminder to drivers that jewelry is also prohibited while in the vehicle.
“Wearing jewelry in the form of body piercings or metal neck chains is prohibited during competition and may therefore be checked prior to kick-off”, read section 5.1 of the event notes .
The reminder prompted an interesting showdown between 2021 title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at Friday morning’s pre-race press conference.
Hamilton joked: “I have some piercings that I really can’t get out that not many people know about… No, I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
Verstappen later commented: “I would be too heavy if I wore jewelry, so that’s not possible.”
“I know you’ve got your nipple pierced, man. Come on,” Hamilton replied, before Verstappen asked “would you like to see it again?”
However, not everyone saw the lucid side of Wittich’s stern race director approach. Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes it is possible to take a slightly more lenient view, especially for incidents on the track during practice after several drivers were reprimanded for obstructing opponents on Friday.
“I’ve yet to meet the race director,” Horner said. “Obviously they’re doing the best job they can with the rules they have… but there needs to be an element of common sense.” “We need to think of ways to simplify some of these regulations.
“[There were] too much penalty in a practice, on a relatively new circuit, etc. I think you don’t want to be outrageous. “
On Friday, Sebastian Vettel also pay a fine of €5,000 for riding the field marshal’s scooter back to the pitlane after his Aston Martin lost power and had to be parked in Round 10.
