Lando Norris attacked and robbed of £144k watch at Wembley, a court hears
The McLaren driver recalls being put in a headlock in a car park outside of the football stadium after being approached by two men.
His Richard Mille 67-02 watch - one of only five in the world, worth an estimated £144,000 - was taken off his wrist.
The incident happened on 11 July 2021 when England lost to Italy in the final of the European Championships.
Norris had parked his £165,000 McLaren GT sportscar in a VIP cark park outside the stadium, he told police.
He said: “After attending Wembley Stadium, I was speaking to members of the public and noticed Suspect One and Suspect Two walk around my car, while I was talking to other people.
“I noticed them looking at my car and myself and the first one was keeping his head down and had his right hand near his pocket.
“Suspect One slowly approached me and asked me: ‘Is this your car?’
“I don’t recall exactly what happened, but Suspect One then went behind me and put his right arm around my neck and his left arm under my back.
“Suspect One pulled me into him and pulled me back on my neck, meaning I was facing the sky and I couldn’t see him at this point.
“Suspect One told Suspect Two to grab my watch. He shouted multiple times: ‘Grab the watch’.
“Suspect One was holding me the whole time and Suspect Two was trying to grab the watch. He struggled for a while and then used force to pull the watch off, leaving scratches on my arm.
“When Suspect One had his arm around my neck Suspect Two managed to get the watch off my left wrist and then ran through the pedestrian walkway to Rutherford Way. From there I do not know where they went. My view was blocked.
“Suspect One was pretty close as he put his arm around my neck. Suspect Two was ten feet away and I saw Suspect One for around ten seconds and the interaction was around thirty seconds, not very long.”
DNA left on Norris’ arm helped police find the two suspects. The court case continues.
The incident was a week before the 2021 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
