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Published 23:08 IST, April 5th 2023

Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc chases Rs 2.7 Cr watch thieves, in his sportscar

Authorities have released a video of Ferrari's F1 driver Charles Leclerc reportedly chasing down criminals who stole his £265,000 / INR 2.7 crore watch.

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Image: @scuderiaferrari/Instagram | Image: self

Ferrari’s star F1 driver Charles Leclerc made headlines last year after his £265,000 watch was stolen by the thieves while he was in the Italian resort of Viareggio last April. As reported by Express, Leclerc has now become the talk of the town for chasing down the criminals in his Ferrari 488 Pista supercar. Leclerc’s exclusive Richard Mille 67-02 watch was stolen by two people, who posed as fans and approached the 25-year-old for a photograph.

The two individuals reportedly grabbed the watch and ran off, covering their faces with motorcycle helmets. As per reports, the authorities have now released the video footage of Leclerc chasing down the thieves in his supercar. In the meantime, the footage shows the criminals ditching the moped and getting into an SUV to escape.

Watch: Charles Leclerc chases down Rs 2.7 crore watch thieves

Police recover two luxury watches from the thief

Express’ report confirmed that the police have arrested four people in connection with the crime and have also recovered two expensive watches. One of the suspects’ houses, located in Naples consisted of the two watches. This comes a day or two after Leclerc suffered another disappointing outing at the track, during the race.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari's campaign off to poor start in F1 2023 season

Leclerc was off to a dismal start in the F1 2023 season as his Ferrari suffered engine problems and suffered a DNF with just a few laps remaining in the race in Bahrain. Ferrari then decided to make a few updates to their battery package for Round 2 in Saudi Arabia, which sent Leclerc 10-place behind his qualifying position.

While Verstappen started the Saudi Arabian GP 2023 from P15 and finished second, Leclerc started from P13 and finished at P7, earning only six points. Leclerc then suffered another DNF during the third round in Australia a nudge by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, sent his car into the gravel trap on Lap 1. 

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Leclerc’s DNF during the Australian GP 2023 in Melbourne meant his teammate Carlos Sainz was left to fend for himself. Sainz finished the race at P4 but a five-second penalty for touching Fernando Alonso’s car, sent him outside the points. "It was unfortunate to end the race this way today, but it was a racing incident and I don’t think that we could have done anything differently. Disappointing, but on to the next one where I hope things will run more smoothly again,” Leclerc was quotes as saying by Formula 1.

Updated 23:08 IST, April 5th 2023