Carlos Sainz Jr. was targeted near his hotel.

(Photo: racing-elite.com)

Formula 1 driver, Carlos Sainz Jr, chased down robbers who stole his $540k watch near his Armani Hotel in Milan, just hours after winning third in the Italian Grand Prix. He was able to retrieve his watch back.

According to New York Post, Carlos Sainz Jr., his trainer, and witnesses chased the robbers and were able to get back the watch. He was targeted near his hotel in Milan for his Richard Mille timepiece that costs $540k. Sainz was also filmed catching his breath as police handcuffed the suspect.

Carlos Sainz Jr wrote about the unfortunate incident and said that the most important thing is that they are all okay, and the incident will remain as an unpleasant anecdote. He also added his thanks to the people who helped them, the police for their immediate intervention.

Carlos Sainz Jr’s robbery came a year after his teammate, Charles Leclerc, was also robbed of his watch in Italy. Another F1 driver was also robbed of his watch in 2020 while watching a football game.

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The 2023 Italian Grand Prix at Monza will live in Carlos Sainz Jr’s memories for more reasons than placing third in the race.

According to The Drive in Yahoo News, Carlos Sainz Jr not only beat championship leader Max Verstappen to pole position on Saturday but he actually managed to hold his position for several laps and finished third on Sunday. Later that day, he chased men whole stole his Richard Mille watch. Making the 2023 Italian Grand Prix an unforgettable memory for more reasons than one.

Carlos Sainz Jr was walking out of his hotel on Sunday evening, when three men approached the driver and a few colleagues. It is rumored that the men posed as fans wanting to get an autographed, it was also unclear if the watch was obtained off of Carlos Sainz Jr forcefully or if he gave them voluntarily for his own safety.

Carlos Sainz Jr and several others chased down the robbers on foot in order to get the watch back. The driver was accompanied by his assistant, trainer, and other bystanders. Not long after, Sainz was able to catch one of the thieves and restrained him. All three suspects, aged 18 to 20, were arrested. Sainz recovered his watch.

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