Christian Horner (GBR) Red Bull Racing Team Principal. Formula One World Championship, Rd18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, 9 November 2014. © Sutton Images
A group of around six men used a car to drive through the front entrance to gain access to the Milton Keynes premises. Night staff on duty at the time were not physically harmed.
“We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break in,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “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.”
Ironically the raid took place on the same night that Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was collecting the team’s latest piece of silverware, as he picked up his trophy for finishing third in the 2014 drivers’ championship at the annual FIA Prize-Giving Ceremony in Qatar.