03 September 2023 , 21:23
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Carlos Sainz was the target of an attempted robbery in Milan on Sunday night, hours after finishing third in the Italian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari star had his watch stolen, though it was later recovered by him and his team. The Spaniard is said to be OK after the incident, though it means the weekend ends in a sour note after a positive day for the Scuderia.
According to reports in Italy, Sainz was approached by three men outside the Armani Hotel in Milan. They then took a watch from him, but Sainz and several passers-by gave chase, blocking the robbers before handing them over to the police.
A video emerged after the incident of Sainz and members of his team speaking with Italian officers next to a police car. Sainz had started Sunday's race at Monza on pole and held off this year's runaway leader Max Verstappen for 14 laps before being overtaken.
His performance earned him the Driver of the Day award, which is voted for by fans. He also fought hard for second, but ultimately had to settle for third, though it was a day he was happy with.
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“It was a great weekend all along and to be able to celebrate a podium with the tifosi is the perfect icing on the cake! I really want to thank every single one of them for their endless support. They are very special!" Sainz said.
Carlos Sainz was the victim of an attempted robbery just hours after finishing third in the Italian Grand Prix (Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)"Today I did everything I could to try to keep both Red Bulls behind, using my tyres to the limit and pushing the entire race. Unfortunately they still have the edge over us on race day and P3 was the maximum today.
"We had good battles on track with them and with Charles and I hope people enjoyed it as much as I did. Now we have some time to regroup and start preparing Singapore as soon as possible."
“It was tough. It was tough, hard racing. It's always been a pleasure to race Charles whenever we've had the chance. A great racer, same as Max and Checo [Perez]. We had fun out there today and I hope you guys enjoyed.
“This weekend we've been best of the rest, which is a good result for the team given the circumstances. I think we just need to keep working on our pace, on our tyre understanding. Today it was obvious we were working the tyres a bit more and lacking a bit of pace.”
Mirror Sport has contacted Ferrari for comment.