Formula 1 bosses are attempting to bring more consistency to the sport by decreeing that all drivers must stick with one style of facial hair throughout the season.

‘It’s not popular with the fans when drivers change their facial hair all the time,’ said racing spokesman Ray Singh-Spowksmunn. ‘Imagine you’re a Jenson Button fan, for example. You’ve just perfected the straggly bumfluff look, exactly like your hero, and then he turns up at a race clean shaven. Or you really admire Fernando Alonso’s Three Musketeers beard and you’ve copied that, only to find he’s stopped trimming it and now looks like a sex pesty wine shop owner. That’s the sort of facial hair shenanigans we want to stamp out.’

In light of the new ruling, drivers are now under pressure to select their 2015 facial hair style before the season starts. Sources at Mercedes say Lewis Hamilton is likely to persist with ‘Amish Craig David’ whilst Nico Rosberg may adopt a radical style he calls ‘my dad in the ‘70s’.

Drivers who have already committed to a facial hair style include Romain Grosjean, who will stick with his existing ‘gap year student’ style, Felipe Massa, who will opt for ‘swarthy waiter’ and Max Verstappen, who hasn’t started shaving yet.