Lewis Hamilton’s U-turn on boycotting the Miami Grand Prix came after speaking to by FIA president

Lewis Hamilton was talked out of boycotting Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix in a series of phone messages with FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem.

The seven-time world champion had threatened to sit out the inaugural edition of this Floridian spectacular over the FIA’s insistence that he remove jewellery on safety grounds while driving.

Making a visible statement, Hamilton came to his press conference — held in the away dressing room of the Hard Rock Stadium 15 miles north of downtown Miami on Friday — bedecked in watches, earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces.

Lewis Hamilton (left) was talked out of boycotting the Miami Grand Prix by FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem (right)

Hamilton came to his press conference  bedecked in watches, earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces

He said: ‘If they stop me (racing) so be it. We have a spare driver so we are well-prepped for the weekend. There is lots to do in the city anyway.’

By this point Hamilton had rung Ben Sulayem and then texted him after he failed to pick up his original call. With three hours between Hamilton’s incendiary comments and the start of first practice, Ben Sulayem contacted the sport’s most famous driver but according to an FIA spokesman ‘they did not meet in person’.

At this stage, the FIA wheels, which are wont to turn slowly, were already moving behind the scenes. They had devised a way through the controversy by deciding to offer Hamilton a medical examination that held the potential of granting him an exemption to race this weekend.

Hamilton was then seen in the medical centre by Sean Petherbridge, president of FIA the medical commission, and agreed to remove all his jewels other than a nose stud that could not be taken out without mechanical intervention.

Hamilton was prepared to miss the new Miami race over F1’s enforcing of its jewellery ban 

Hamilton had said on Friday that he had one other piercing that he could not remove in a sensitive area. ‘I can’t remove at least two of them. One I can’t really explain where it is,’ he said.

‘But what I can say is it’s platinum that I have, so it’s not magnetic. It’s never been a safety issue in the past.

‘I’ve worn (jewellery) for 16 years, had so many MRI scans and not had to take out the platinum, for example, because it’s not been an issue.’

The FIA agreed to exempt the stud for this round and the next in Spain. That has deferred the next possible flashpoint to Monaco on May 29.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: ‘What was needed was a dialogue between Lewis and Mohammed. It is clear that regulations are here to protect the drivers but on the other side we need diversity and the means of expressing yourself.

‘We know that this is important to Lewis. Without going into detail, where the piercings stayed and where they didn’t, I am sure they will come to a good resolution.’

Such is Hamilton’s sensitivity that the FIA and Mercedes failed to divulge all but the briefest of details about the Ben Sulayem-Hamilton exchanges.

Opinion is split on whether the FIA or Hamilton is in the right. Certainly, if the jewellery ban were being enforced to victimise Hamilton then it would be wrong. But there is no evidence of this. Ben Sulayem, in fact, has been very pro-Mercedes and Hamilton since taking over the presidency last December, by sacking his own chief official, Michael Masi, as they demanded over the controversial end to the 2021 season.

The FIA would say ‘diversity’, as Wolff referred to, is irrelevant to the jewellery debate as it is merely a safety issue, and a pressing one if a driver is caught in a fire.

That is why the rule has long been in the FIA regulations, even if it has not been applied in recent times. New race director Niels Wittich, who took over from Masi in February, is keen not to turn a blind eye to the anomaly. His stance is hardly unreasonable but whether it is the hill to die on, so to speak, is open to question. The same might be said of Hamilton’s response.

Ironically, Mercedes campaigned for one race director (Masi) to be fired for not following the FIA’s own rules yet are asking his replacement to give way over doing exactly that.

Aside from the row, Mercedes have brought a number of upgrades here to Miami after a disappointing start to the campaign by their lofty standards.

Hamilton made an improvement in Florida, qualifying in sixth position on the grid in Miami

Hamilton is 58 points off the lead set by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc; Mercedes newcomer George Russell is closer but still 37 behind the Monegasque.

New front and rear wings are on the car here for this celebrity-rich race in sweltering 34C heat.

Are these upgrades game-changers? Wolff was cautious before qualifying, saying: ‘We brought some parts that function. The track surface seems to be very smooth here so our bouncing problem is not as bad as at some of the other tracks. We have managed to chip away at lap time.

‘Yesterday was good, but we have to be honest to ourselves and it is not like we have brought ground-breaking solutions. I would express caution at this stage.

‘We have more clarity on where we need to go. But I would say put our car in Imola, where it is 10 degrees and raining, the picture might have been a little bit better than when we were there a fortnight ago, but still not good enough.’