Lewis Hamilton fires broadside at FIA over underpants furore

Hamilton in Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

Lewis Hamilton

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Hamilton fires broadside at FIA over underpants furore

Mercedes driver was "uncomfortable" in drivers' briefing

Ian Parkes

Saturday 9 April 2022 18:10

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Lewis Hamilton has heavily criticised the FIA following what he has described as 'the longest drivers' briefing of his life' during which he was left stunned by a conversation surrounding underwear and the lack of face masks being worn.

In the wake of axed former race director Michael Masi's more relaxed attitude, his two replacements in Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich have so far applied the strict letter of the law with regard to the regulations.

The number of summons issued for incidents so far across the Australian Grand Prix weekend has been considerable, whilst Wittich has also cracked the whip over the wearing of jewellery whilst driving and applied a rigorous code to safety car restarts.

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During the briefing, Wittich also served notice on the drivers for using non-fire retardant underwear given it constitutes a safety breach.

Asked to reflect on what unfolded, a flabbergasted Hamilton said: "It was the longest drivers' briefing of my life. I have been racing a long time and they have never done such a long drivers’ briefing."

Picking up on the lack of face masks being worn, with the Mercedes driver wearing his at almost all times whilst he is in the paddock to protect himself against coronavirus, he added: "Also, no one in the drivers' briefing was wearing masks - no-one.

"Some of the drivers were, but most of the FIA weren’t, which for me was uncomfortable."

As to the discussion over the underwear ruling, he added: "And then, I don’t really understand the small things they are picking up like the underwear.

"I mean, are we really talking about that sort of thing? But anyway, we move on."

F1 driver underwear discussion 'interesting'

Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri was among those present in the meeting, with the Australian shedding some light on what unfolded whilst serving as a guest analyst on Sky Sports F1 at the start of final practice.

Asked whether the topic of underwear was raised, Piastri said: "They did. It was quite a long discussion on that one actually.

"I think a few people might have changed some of their underwear protocols."

As to why a driver would wear something different, he added: "I think it's more to do with the drivers wearing non-fireproof underwear underneath the fireproof underwear which is a contentious topic because you're going commando if you're not wearing your own.

"It was quite a light-hearted discussion, I have to say, with some quite serious safety behind these discussions. It was the first time I've had that brought up in a drivers' briefing.

"There were a few people with some concerns, for various reasons that we shall not go into on tv, but it was an interesting point that isn't normally raised."