Charles Leclerc had his super expensive Richard Mille watch stolen from his arm while interacting with fans earlier this year.
F1 drivers are among the most popular athletes in the world. Leclerc on top of that, is one of F1’s most popular. The 24-year old has millions of fans worldwide, who adore him and his brilliant performances on track.
On 17th April, Leclerc was signing autographs and interacting with fans in Viareggio, a city in Tuscany (Italy). The incident happened on a dimly lit street at around 10 PM. A group of fans recognized him, and since it was Ferrari’s star driver Leclerc, they mobbed him for autographs and pictures.
It was then that the thief took advantage of the situation and stole the watch of the Monegasque’s hand. Initially he did not even realize that it had gone missing. After everyone else left, he noticed that someone had stolen his Richard Mille.
In an interview after the incident, Leclerc admitted that finding the thief who stole his $292,000 watch has been difficult. Nevertheless, he has kept that on the back of his mind, and continues to focus on racing.
Charles Leclerc bounces back with win in Austria ahead of Max Verstappen
Leclerc had a very difficult few weeks since his last win in Australia back in April. The Ferrari star did not have luck on his side, and his team’s poor strategy calls often left him helpless out on track.
He lost out on a lot of points to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, but he silenced his critics in Spielberg last weekend. Leclerc did not start the race on pole position, but he managed to pass him not once, but thrice in the main race. Ferrari had finally gotten their strategy spot on.
However, with one Ferrari driver tasting the highs, the other had to endure another lowly weekend. Carlos Sainz was on his way to an easy P2 finish, when his engine blew up. Ferrari haven’t announced anything as of yet, but it’s widely expected that he will have to replace it completely ahead of the French GP.
As a result, Sainz may be starting the race at Paul Ricard from the back of the grid due to engine penalties.
