Informants believe that the watch that was stolen from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc earlier this year might have ended up in Spain.
Leclerc was with some friends on a night out in the Viareggio region of Tuscany when a group of fans approached them.
Most of the fans had innocent intentions: grab some selfies, shake the Monegasque’s hand, and maybe get a couple of signatures if there was a pen handy, but some had more devious ideas.
After the meeting with the group, Leclerc realised that his custom-made Richard Mille watch had been taken but, by the time he did, it was already too late – the watch was gone.
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He and his group informed the police of what had happened, but they have had no luck finding the expensive wristwear so far.
Estimations have placed the watch at around two million euros, and it is now thought that the watch was smuggled to Spain after the thieves had initially taken it back to their home in Naples.
Due to the fact that the watch is personalised, it cannot be sold online as the vendor would criminalise themselves, so it is believed that the item was sold on for just 250,000 euros in Spain.
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However, there is no concrete intelligence as to the whereabouts of the watch now, so it is very possible that Leclerc will never find it.
This is not the only instance of Formula 1 drivers having items stolen. Sebastian Vettel had his bag taken while he was checking out of his hotel in Barcelona and, after trying to chase down the thieves, he decided to try and track down his airpods.
Sadly, they had been dumped on the street, so the German’s belongings – albeit not very valuable ones – were lost.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was accosted at Wembley Stadium after England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, and he was left shaken after his watch was also stolen.
Jenson Button’s apartment in Monaco was burgled after a group of miscreants gassed his bedroom and knocked him and his partner out, and that took place several years after he was threatened by armed gunmen in Brazil – he was unharmed after both of those incidents.