Cocaine use in F1 not true?

By Parminio
January 11 2005

After the original statement that the vast majority of the F1 grid were using cocaine and getting away with it, the man that made the statement seems to be clairifying his statement, or taking it back altogether.

Doctor Benigno Bartoletti set us all on our ears a while back with his statement about the use of cocaine by F1 drivers.

"The person who interviewed me tried to change the meaning of what I've said to create a more sensational story," is what Bartoletti told the Colombian paper El Carabobeño. "I only said that there is a risk of doping in motorsport. Surely it would not be with anabolic substances, that would be of no use at all. If there is doping, it would be with cocaine-type substances."

"These substances give a powerful reaction for a very limited amount of time," added the Italian doctor. "It can last for an hour or two, not more. I have only mentioned a doubt, a supposition without any specific reference. But if we want to remove any doubt, it would only require to do more stringent mandatory antidoping control during the entire championship. Then we should know if these doubts turn out to be purely hypothetical."

Mark Webber didn't think much of what the good doctor had to say. "All the drivers that I know would be delighted to do a drug test at any moment. Like most of my colleagues, I would be more than happy to take drug tests more frequently in the future."

So, what that brings to mind is yet another wanna be trying to make a name for himself. What's next? If someone doesn't have full blown proof or at the very least some inside information to what's going on, he should keep his mouth shut. If I were the FIA or the Drivers Association, I would sue this idiot back to the stone age.

After all,the FIA's Professor Sid Watkins said just a few days ago that random tests do take place in F1 and that none of the drivers have ever tested positive.