Red Bull has suffered a massive loss of over 60 Formula 1 trophies during a robbery on Saturday morning at around 1:30am, according to the team and local police.
Six men driving two vehicles with foreign number plates were used to ram-raid the factory entrance, where the thieves proceeded to break into the glass cabinet containing the team’s various trophies.
In all, more than 60 were taken during the incident which has confused team boss Christian Horner who explained that they hold very little value, other than sentimental.
“We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break-in, which saw offenders drive a vehicle through our front entrance and steal more than 60 trophies which took years and hard work to accumulate,” he said in a statement.
“The break-in caused significant damage and was very upsetting for our night officers who were on duty at the time.
“The offenders took items that not only did not belong to them, but which represented the efforts of a group of dedicated, hard-working individuals.
“Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these trophies.
“The value to the team is of course extraordinarily high due to the sheer hard work and effort that went into winning each and every one.
“But their intrinsic value is low; they would be of little benefit to those outside of the team and, in addition to that, many of the trophies on display were replicas.
“The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula 1 car.
“We would like to appeal to anyone who knows any information on the whereabouts of these trophies or the offenders involved to contact Thames Valley Police.”
No other items are believed to have been taken as the factory has strict finger-print security systems in place to stop anybody getting past reception.
Nobody is believed to have been harmed during the break-in.
If you have any information, please contact Red Bull via media@redbullracing.com or contact the police on 01865 841 148.
