After six years of high-speed hijinks and viral videos, the Czech Republic’s most enigmatic speedster, dubbed the “Phantom Ferrari F1 Driver,” has finally been caught.
On Sunday, police swooped in on a 51-year-old man in the sleepy village of Buk, southwest of Prague, bringing an end to a motorway mystery that’s had locals and internet sleuths buzzing since 2019.
The man, clad in full racing suit and helmet, whose late-night appearances on local country highways had become the stuff of legend, was taken into custody on Sunday after officers staged a dramatic raid near Dobris.
Multiple patrol cars and even a helicopter were scrambled when motorists reported spotting the infamous red racer pulling into a petrol station.
Local footage captured the surreal standoff: the mystery driver refusing to leave his car, insisting police were trespassing on his property. Eventually, he surrendered and was led away – still helmeted, still silent, still leaving fans half expecting the F1 theme music to kick in.
Not Quite a Ferrari After All
For years, social media had been abuzz with videos of what looked like a Ferrari F1 machine tearing down Czech motorways since 2019. But the truth, it turns out, was a little less glamorous: the car was actually a Dallara GP2/08, a former feeder-series single-seater once raced in the GP2 Championship.
Police had long struggled to pin down who was behind the wheel, as the driver’s full racing gear left his identity a mystery. The spectacle spawned memes, conspiracy theories, and a cult online following for the so-called “phantom driver.”
The Charges, the Backlash, the Cult Hero
Authorities confirmed the man now faces administrative proceedings, which could lead to a driving ban and a hefty of several thousand crowns. His son, however, blasted the scale of the operation, claiming “two dozen patrol cars” were involved. He also denied that his father had been driving the car seen at the petrol station, accusing police of overstepping their rights.
Together, father and son run a YouTube channel called TrackZone, where they’ve previously posted footage of the same single-seater that became infamous on Czech highways.
Despite his run-in with the law, the “phantom F1 driver” leaves behind a peculiar legacy: part outlaw, part internet hero, and part motorsport folklore.
For many Czech fans, his weird motorway blasts won’t be remembered as crimes — but as audacious, if reckless, laps in the longest one-car Grand Prix never sanctioned by the FIA.
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