A rude awakening for Perez and Ricciardo

05/03/2013

Mat Coch writes:

Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were awoken early this morning by doping control agents who paid both drivers an unexpected house call.

"Pff early morning, they just came to do Doping Test," Tweeted Perez following his early start.

"Got drug tested early hours this morning. All of a sudden pissing in your own home becomes difficult with someone staring over your shoulder," added Ricciardo a short time later.

The FIA treats doping very seriously, dedicating an entire Appendix of the International Sporting Code to detail regulations designed to stamp out the practice.

Like most sports, drivers are subject to both in and out-of-competition testing. There are strict regulations governing what happens if a driver has a banned substance in his body, if he tampers with the process or attempts to avoid the controls altogether.

Part of these state that drivers must advise the FIA of their whereabouts at all times so they can be subjected to random testing, hence the FIA's doping controllers knew just where to find Ricciardo and Perez this morning.

Editor's note: When Mat Coch writes "Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were awoken early this morning..." readers should be aware that they were not together at the time but at entirely separate locations.