Formula 1 championship leader Charles Leclerc has filed a police case after he was robbed in Italy on the evening of Easter Monday.
The Ferrari driver was reportedly signing autographs and taking photos amid a large group at around 10pm, where his $320,000 Richard Mille ‘RM67 Leclerc timepiece’ watch was taken from his wrist by a thief. He was thought to be with friends and his trainer Andrea Ferrari on Via Salvatori, in the Darsana district of Viareggio in Tuscany for a night out.
Richard Mille has sponsored Leclerc’s career for several years, and currently is partnered with his Ferrari team as of last season. The watch maker is known for producing high-end, premium watches ‘combining technicity and aesthetics of the highest order’.
Leclerc has since reported the incident to the local police who have subsequently opened an investigation into catching those responsible for stealing the €300,000 item. Soon after the event, his trainer Ferrari criticised the area in which the incident occurred in a social media post, blaming the lack of sufficient street lighting.
“Via Salvatori has been completely in the dark for months. We have been reporting this for months,” said a frustrated Ferrari. “Well, yesterday evening in Via Salvatori, they have robbed us. Think of arranging the lamps sooner or later? Asking for a friend.”
This is an incident unfortunately reminiscent of one several months ago, in which McLaren driver Lando Norris was mugged and had a similar prototype Richard Mille watch taken from his wrist in Wembley after the Euro 2020 final. Norris even admitted that he struggled to sleep after the incident in July last year.
Since the theft of his watch on Monday, the Australian Grand Prix winner, Leclerc, has posted an update on social media seemingly from within the Ferrari simulator in Maranello as he readies for the weekend ahead in Imola.
The story was written by Danny Herbert
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