The FIA has written to drivers competing in all its events advising them on how to ensure they do not taken banned substances.

The governing body distributed its 2011 Prohibited List to all competitors, including F1 drivers.

F1 drivers are included on the FIA’s International Registered Testing Pool, which requires them to comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s International Standard for Testing.

It reminded them: “You are responsible for any substance that enters your body, regardless of whether or not the substance has been taken or administered intentionally.

“If you need to use a medicine which is normally prohibited (because no permitted medicine can be used instead), you must fill in a Therapeutic Use Exemption request and send it to your National Anti-Doping Organisation (or directly to the FIA in certain cases specified in the regulations) for approval.

“The content of a specific drug can vary from one country to another, so try to bring with you any drugs you need to use while you are abroad.

“Even apparently benign drugs such as eyes drops, nose drops or throat pastilles can contain prohibited substances. Nutritional supplements do not always mention all the substances they contain. So always make sure that you know what you are taking”.

Although there have been many high-profile cases of competitors breaking anti-doping rules in other sports such as cycling and athletics, there have been few examples of the same in motor racing.

One of the most famous involved Tomas Enge, who was an F1 driver with Prost in 2001. The following year Enge was disqualified from his victory in the Formula 3000 race at the Hungaroring after testing positive for cannabis. The ten points he lost would have made him champion at the end of the year.

Last year International GT Open driver Christos Niarchos was given a six-month ban after also testing positive for cannabis.

The FIA’s anti-doping campaign “Race True” can be found here.

2011 F1 season



Image ?�?� Red Bull/Getty images