Formula 1 legend Sebastian Vettel released his inner Jason Bourne in a bid to retrieve his stolen backpack in Barcelona this past weekend.
That's after the Aston Martin driver had the idea of using the GPS in his Apple AirPods as a means of tracking down the thieves. It's alleged Vettel's bad was stolen through a car window from just outside his hotel on Monday.
El Periodico reported the German then jumped aboard a scooter in pursuit of the robbers, using the Find My iPhone app to get a bearing on the AirPods' location. He succeeded in tracking down the headphones, though it's believed the thieves ditched the earphones after realising they could be traced.
That left Vettel without the bag itself and any other stolen goods, which is understood to include personal documents. The incident marked an unsatisfactory end to his Spanish Grand Prix weekend after Vettel finished 11th in Barcelona.
Aston Martin released a statement to confirm their star is "totally okay" following his pursuit. The four-time world champion's ego may be bruised as a result, but his employers will be glad there were no actual injuries as a result of his attempt to recover his belongings.
Vettel sits 14th in the drivers' standings and has outscored team-mate Lance Stroll despite only finishing two races so far this year. The former Ferrari and Red Bull ace missed the first two races of the 2022 campaign after testing positive for Covid-19.
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Vettel just missed out on the points places in Spain despite starting 16th on the grid overall. That served as further frustration after Haas ' Mick Schumacher crashed into his German compatriot towards the end of the Miami Grand Prix earlier in May.
The 34-year-old finished 12th in his debut season with Aston Martin last year, the second-lowest-scoring season of his F1 career. He's out of contract at the end of 2022, with question marks as to whether he'll remain with the Silverstone-based outfit.
Vettel has taken to protesting a number of causes more actively during the latter stages of his career, so it shouldn't be a surprise he was so eager to mete out justice of his own in Barcelona. The crusader's quest was foiled on this occasion, but Vettel will seek vengeance of a different variety as he looks to inject some life into his F1 season at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
