Valtteri Bottas revealed an unusual episode experienced during the Miami GP weekend of Formula 1. The Finnish driver said that his car was stolen while he was staying in a rented house in Fort Lauderdale, a situation that ended up involving the FBI in the investigation.
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The case drew attention not only because of the vehicle theft but also because inside the car were a pass to access the Formula 1 paddock and a special parking authorization for the racetrack. According to Bottas, the situation immediately raised concerns about the possible misuse of the material.
Bottas recounted the episode on the podcast ‘What’s next?’ and explained that everything happened on Saturday morning, before the Sprint race and the qualifying session for the Miami GP. Bottas said he had normally parked the Cadillac Escalade in the garage of the residence after Friday’s activities.
“We came back normally on Friday, parked the car in the garage, had a quick dinner, and went to bed early. The car keys were inside the house and the car was locked,” said the Finn.
The next morning, a friend informed him that the vehicle had disappeared: “I couldn’t believe it. I went to the door and the Escalade was gone. The keys were still inside the house, on the table. I thought: ‘How did they steal our car from the Airbnb garage?’,” Bottas said.
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The Cadillac driver explained that he had to quickly find another way to get to the circuit: “I was already late to go to the track because we needed to find another means of transport. Fortunately, they sent another Escalade to take us.”
Bottas also recalled that the paddock access pass was inside the stolen car. During the podcast, photographer Paul Ripke joked that the thief could have impersonated the driver at the circuit, since he would have access to VIP parking and the paddock. The Finn responded in a relaxed tone: “He had all the opportunities that day, VIP parking, paddock entry, team access,” he added laughing.
Despite the initial concern, the vehicle was found abandoned the next day in an area considered high crime. Bottas said the FBI got involved precisely because of the risk that the car had been used to access the racetrack with its official credentials.
“It seems they probably used the car to commit some crime and then abandoned it. In my mind, it must have been something like a getaway car,” he said. The driver also revealed that after the incident, an armed security guard was hired to stay in front of the Airbnb for the rest of the weekend: “There must be a lot of technology involved in all this. How does someone get into a car and immediately disable the tracker? Impressive!”, concluded the Finn.
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