Vettel prowled Barcelona after Spanish GP in search of stolen bag

Sebastian Vettel took it open himself to search in Barcelona for a personal bag that was stolen from a car window outside his hotel after last Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

After a thief made off with the bag, a clever Vettel borrowed a scooter and attempted to track down his belongings using his iPhone and the GPS signal from his AirPods earphones that were in the bag.

According to Spain's El Periodico, the Aston Martin driver was able to locate his AirPods, but unfortunately, there was no trace of the bag and his belongings at the location where the earphones were found and likely discarded by the thief to cover his tracks.

Vettel also reported the theft to local authorities in Barcelona.

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2022 Spanish GP

Stolen bag aside, it was a downbeat weekend in Spain for the four-time world champion who qualified a lowly P16 on Saturday and finished the race P11, just outside the points.

Aston Martin's heavily upgraded AMR22 did not live up to the team's expectations, with Vettel saying that his car had run to "Formula 2 qualifying pace" in Sunday's race.

"I think for everybody the car felt poor, because it was so hot and so slippery with the tyres and we were going so slow," said the German after the race.

"We were doing Formula 2 qualifying pace in the race, but we managed the tyres better than most.

"There's still a lot of work to do with this new package," he added, commenting on Aston's latest upgrades.

"We knew it wouldn't be a massive step forward right away, but we believe it's the better direction for the future."

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