A tense end to the Grand Prix for Carlos Sainz. After proudly securing his first podium of the season at Monza, the Spanish driver on Monday (September 4th) thanked Italian police for arresting snatchers who stole a luxury watch from him hours after the race.

Carlos Sainz recounted on his X account (ex-Twitter) having “experienced an unfortunate incident yesterday in Milan” which, he says, “will only remain an unpleasant anecdote”. “Thank you very much to everyone who helped us yesterday, to the police of Milan for their quick intervention,” he added.

The Spaniard, who was walking in the streets of central Milan, was jostled by two men who stole his watch from the Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille, worth an estimated at least 300,000 euros. He then chased them with his bodyguard and caught them with the help of passers-by, before handing them over to the Italian police and recovering his watch.

���� As many of you already know, we had an unfortunate accident yesterday in Milan. The most important one is that we are all fine and that this will only be remembered as an unpleasant little story. Thanks to all the people who helped us yesterday, to the Milan Police for…

The same mishap had happened to his teammate at Ferrari, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, while he was traveling in Tuscany in April 2022. According to the media, he had had the luxury watch he was wearing on his wrist snatched by an alleged fan saying he wants to take a selfie with him. The thieves, who fled on a scooter, were arrested in April but the watch, also a Richard Mille, was never found.