Adidas is sewing NFC chips into Climacool racing drivers' suits to give them smart properties.

The Adidas Climacool Smart Suit, made under licence by motorsports specialist Fyshe, contains a chip that is currently used to authenticate the race suit is genuine. More importantly though, its presence - revealed by scanning the suit with an NFC capable smartphone or device - ensures that the clothing meets strict FIA regulations.

It also stores driver identification details. In the future, it could contain the medical details of the wearer, in case of a crash.

"Not only is this a cool way of knowing your race suit is authentic, but I can see the technology opening up many other possibilities. Driver data not related directly to the clothing, such as medical details, would be a fascinating and important development," said F1 legend Rubens Barichello.

"It could give medics vital information in an instant if a driver needed treatment at the scene of an accident, for instance."

The suits were worn for the first time by drivers of the Dempsey-Proton Racing, Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing and KCMG teams during the first round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. Driver Richard Leitz (pictured) was one to take part.

All race suits from Fyshe will contain an NFC tag from now on.