Tomas Enge is to be hauled up before the FIA for having 'illegal substances' in his urine sample. So far as I can recall, he is the first driver to be hauled up for 'illegal substances'. 'Illegal substances' includes alcohol and it is just as well that the authorities were not as Politically Correct in days gone by.

When Giovanni Bracco won the 1952 Mille Miglia for Ferrari, and defeated the Mercedes-Benz team, the main function of his co-driver was to light cigarettes and pass the brandy. Apparently, Bracco got through 160 ciggies and even a dedicated smoker like me cannot understand how he did that. The amount of brandy was not recorded, but one understands that it was considerable.

When Louis Chiron first drove in the Carrera Panamericana, he was appalled to discover that it was a 'dry' race and he was not allowed to carry his customary flask of Champagne.

One can think of many drivers who performed great feats while in a state which would see them fail a breathalyser test.

Alcohol has long been a part of motor racing culture, though not often at the top level in recent years. James Hunt became a drunk, though he cleaned his act before he died. James would get through a couple of bottles of wine when he was commentating with Murray Walker. Murray, the complete professional, and the nicest man on the planet, was upset by this and when he said, "James is outside the commentary box getting a breath of fresh air", what he really meant was "James is sucking on a spliff."

James eventually cleaned up his act and took up running. One cannot help but wonder, though, whether the years of abuse contributed to his death through a heart attack.

Mike Hawthorn, the first British World Champion, was known for his 'on' days and his 'off' days. Much depended on the size of Mike's hangover.

The saddest story was that of Peter Walker, a works driver for BRM and Jaguar who won Le Mans in 1951 co-driving with Peter Whitehead. Walker liked a drink and became a homeless alcoholic. Though he had been a wealthy farmer, he eventually was found to be sleeping in shop doorways in London. Eventually his family persuaded him to take treatment in a clinic where he fell in love with one of the nurses. They married and Peter died 18 months later.

My biography of Colin Chapman comes out in the next few days and, in it, I reveal that Chapman had a drug habit. For at least twenty years he was on 'uppers' (amphetamines) and 'downers' (barbiturates). When he started, the world was innocent about drugs and Colin's were prescribed by his physician.

Chapman made no secret of his uppers and downers and his colleagues sympathised with him because he was always flying round the world going through many time zones. Still, Colin would have failed a modern drug test, though the FIA do nothing about designers.