Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel took matters into his own hands recently as he got on his scooter to try and hunt down thieves who had robbed him.
The incident occurred in Barcelona, where Vettel had stayed all weekend for F1’s Spanish Grand Prix. Sadly, this only added to an already tricky weekend for the German,
His Aston Martin team arrived in Spain boasting a host of upgrades to try and improve their car. The parts, including a new floor and revamped sidepod design, all came in to try and solve the British outfit’s porpoising issue. However, these technical changes did bring controversy to the paddock.
Competitors complained that the new parts looked strikingly similar to Red Bull’s car. Critics even went as far as labelling the Aston a “green Red Bull”. An FIA investigation into the matter cleared the British team of any wrongdoing despite the allegations. Additionally, the new parts did not seem to improve performance too much.
By qualifying, other teams were much less concerned over Aston Martin’s new parts after seeing the team’s result. Vettel and his teammate Lance Stroll both exited qualifying in Q1 – a disappointing showing following upgrades. They were 16th and 18th respectively.
Aston had a slightly better showing on Sunday. Despite a two-stop strategy, Vettel finished 11th in the Spanish Grand Prix, unfortunately just missing out on his second points finish of 2022. In contrast, Stroll could only come home in 15th position, leaving the British team stuck in 9th in the constructors’ standings.
The underwhelming weekend capped off a busy period for Sebastian Vettel, who had also appeared on BBC’s Question Time recently. During his appearance on the show, he impressed viewers as he discussed his conflicting position as an F1 driver who talks about the climate crisis and the current British political landscape.
But the German now has even more concerns on his mind following a robbery.
Sebastian Vettel robbed
According to El Periodico, thieves stole a backpack from the four-time world champion on Monday morning. The Spanish outlet claimed that opportunistic robbers swiped the rucksack out of Vettel’s car, which was parked outside his hotel.
talkSPORT report that Vettel’s bag contained important documentation and his wireless AirPod earphones.
Vettel then reportedly used his phone’s GPS to find the location of his AirPods, assuming that they would take him to his belongings. In a crazy turn of events, Vettel went in pursuit of his items on his electric scooter – against the advice of Catalan police.
The Daily Express state that local authorities wanted the German to report the incident so police could handle it. However, Vettel ignored them.
Sadly, his unbelievable scooter-riding search proved unsuccessful. The Aston Martin man found his headphones dumped in a shop but did not find his personal documents.
Catalan police are still on the lookout for Vettel’s rucksack and the documentation that was lost.
Worryingly, he is the third Formula 1 driver to fall victim to a robbery in recent times. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc both had expensive watches stolen in separate incidents last year.
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