Aston Martin Driver Sebastien Vettel Becomes the Third Formula One Driver to Be Targeted in a Robbery

Aston Martin Driver Sebastien Vettel Becomes the Third Formula One Driver to Be Targeted in a Robbery

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:03 PM
  • Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel was the victim of a robbery after this past weekend's race in Barcelona
  • The German, who drives for Aston Martin, was unharmed in the incident, but the thieves made off with a bag of his containing valuables of sorts
  • He became the third F1 driver to be targeted for theft, after Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris' watches worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were taken not long ago

Criminals appear to have it in for Formula One drivers at the moment.

Aston Martin driver Sebastien Vettel was the subject of a robbery yesterday in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The four-time world champion had participated in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he finished in 11th place as Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed the honours.

formula one, f1, charles leclerc, sebastian vettel, lando norris, aston martin, ferrari, mclaren, robbery, theft, watches, criminals, spain, barcelona, spanish grand prix
Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel and Lando Norris have been target by thieves in recent months.
Source: Getty Images

According to Sport24, Vettel, who was unharmed in the incident, set off in pursuit of the stolen property - where it was snatched was not made clear - by using the Find My iPhone application connected to his AirPods. The 34-year-old German managed to track down his earphones, the bag and other items inside have not been found.

An Aston Martin spokesperson said on Monday:

"A bag belonging to Sebastian Vettel was stolen in Barcelona this morning. He tried to find it by using his iPhone to track his earphones which were in his bag but when he located his earphones, he found them abandoned and was unable to locate his stolen bag."

Vettel is said to have reported the matter to police.

Planet F1 reported that Vettel is the second F1 driver to be robbed in as many months after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was stripped of his Richard Mille watch, worth £250,000, in Milan in April.

Thieves also snatched a Richard Mille watch off British driver, of McLaren, Lando Norris following last summer’s Euro 2020 final at Wembley, as per ESPN.

‘Formula 1 coming to Africa?’ Lewis Hamilton throws his support behind racing returning to the continent

Sir Lewis Hamilton wants to see a Formula 1 event held on African shores.

As reported by Sports Brief, the seven-time world champion has reignited calls for South Africa to play host to a race, saying that a return to Africa could no longer be avoided. Apart from Antarctica, Africa remains the only continent where a Formula 1 event isn’t held during the current season.

The last time Africa played host to Formula 1 was when South Africa held a race in 1993 at Kyalami.

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