On Monday night, Charles Leclerc was robbed of a Richard Mille watch worth $320 000 in Italy.
The Monegasque native was out with friends and his trainer Andrea Ferrari in the Tuscan city of Viareggio on Easter Monday when fans stopped to get photos and his autograph.
He is in Italy ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that is taking place at Imola.
Amongst the throng of people around him, someone stole the watch from his wrist and disappeared before he noticed. Leclerc reported it to the police, who are now investigating and looking into whether the robbery was opportunistic or planned in advance.
Ferrari took to social media to voice his annoyance with the situation. They wrote: "Via Salvatori has been completely in the dark for months. We have been reporting this for months. Well, yesterday evening in Via Salvatori, they have robbed us. Think of arranging the lamps sooner or later? Asking for a friend."
Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille is a long-time sponsor of Leclerc, and became an official partner of Ferrari last year.
Leclerc is not the first driver to be robbed of an expensive watch. Last year, Lando Norris had a prototype Richard Mille snatched from his wrist after the final of the Euro 2020s at Wembley Stadium.
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