"It won’t hurt me for this weekend" - Charles Leclerc laments search for his watch not being 'smooth'

Charles Leclerc has revealed that finding thieves who stole a custom-made special edition watch from him wasn’t going as easy as he had hoped. The Monegasque driver, however, assured that his performance this weekend in Imola won’t be affected by the incident.

Speaking to the Motorsport Network, he said:

“I won’t go too much into details, it hasn’t been a great experience. I cannot say much more than that. But obviously everything is going on with the police, and they are trying to find them. It hasn’t been as smooth as what I’ve read. But yeah, overall, I am fine and fully focused on the weekend. It won’t hurt me for this weekend.”

Leclerc was robbed on Easter Monday earlier this week when he was posing for photographs with a few fans in the city of Viareggio. The Ferrari driver reportedly chased after the perpetrators after noticing the crime, but to no avail.

The stolen watch piece is potentially priceless given that it was one of only two ever made. Built by luxury watchmaker and Ferrari sponsor Richard Mille exclusively for Leclerc, the custom-designed piece is valued at nearly $320,000.

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Charles Leclerc “excited” to defend title lead at Ferrari’s home race

While Charles Leclerc admitted that it was unfortunate to lose such a valuable item, he says he is fully focussed on defending his title lead heading into Ferrari’s first home Grand Prix of the season. Speaking to the Motorsport Network, he said:

“Obviously to be at home for Ferrari, I know that in past years we had so much support here, and now to be here in that position, I’m sure it’s going to be special. I’m very excited. But the most important thing for us this weekend is to not overdo things, which is easy whenever there is excitement, and whenever things are going well. We need to stay focused on our job, not try to do too much, and hopefully it will be a positive weekend.”

Leclerc currently holds an impressive 34-point lead over Mercedes’ George Russell in the driver’s standings. Meanwhile, his key rival Max Verstappen is currently languishing in P6, owing to a string of DNFs.