Lewis Hamilton defends TUEs after doping data hack

World champion Lewis Hamilton waded into the row over the use by cyclist Bradley Wiggins of controversial “Therapeutic Use Exemptions” (TUEs), backing them providing they are administered properly.

Hamilton, who has suffered with severe pollen allergies in the past, said he didn’t have any TUEs at the moment but added the matter was “very personal stuff”.

British cycling great Wiggins was revealed by a doping data hacking group calling themselves “Fancy Bears” to have been granted a TUE to treat asthma.

He was allowed to have an injection of the powerful steroid triamcinolone just days before the 2012 Tour de France, which he won, as well as the 2011 Tour and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.

But Hamilton backed Wiggins. “It’s not an unfair thing, it’s a perfectly normal thing,” said the three-time Formula One world champion ahead of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

“I don’t know what the scenario is for him, but that’s what you have to go through. As long as they give you the exemption,” he told reporters.

“It has to go through a controlled governing body to make sure you are not gaining an advantage over others who are not taking the same things,” added Hamilton.

“I guess (the controversy is) because there are benefits to taking these things. If you are a cyclist in which you have to use your lungs, there are lots of things you can inhale to enhance the performance of your lungs.”

TUEs allow banned substances to be taken for medical reasons and there is no suggestion that any athletes named by the hackers, such as Wiggins and athlete Mo Farah, have broken any rules.

Hamilton, along with all drivers, is tested randomly under World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) rules. But he was less forthcoming when asked if he had ever requested TUEs. “That’s very personal stuff,” he said. “I don’t have any TUEs at the moment.”

He doubted there was anything that could be taken to make someone a better driver.

“I would imagine if you were to really look into it maybe there’s something that could speed up your reaction, but I don’t know how beneficial that would be,” he said.

Hamilton said the most onerous part of being subject to WADA testing was keeping the body informed of his movements at all times.

“We don’t get tested a lot, it’s random. But you have to give a location where you are going to be, every single day of your life for the whole year, which is quite intrusive.”