Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/429113
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2014 Sport 61 FORMULA 1 (+356) 800 737 70 Freephone: cabs t minivans t vip transport t luxury coaches t vintage buses 2138 9575 / 9921 5286 info@cabs.com.mt w w w . c a b s . c o m . m t Red Bull trophies stolen during burglary Over 60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull Formula 1 team's factory on Friday night, Thames Valley police has confirmed "POLICE were called at 1.30am to- day to the Red Bull Racing factory where a group of around six men used a vehicle to drive through the front entrance to gain access to the premises," a police state- ment said. "Once inside, they stole over 60 trophies belonging to the Red Bull Racing team. Night staff who were on the premises at the time were not physically harmed." Police said two cars were in- volved in the burglary - a silver 4x4 and, ironically, a Mercedes - and that the thieves all wore dark clothing. "We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break in, which saw offenders drive a ve- hicle through our front entrance and steal more than 60 trophies which took years and hard work to accumulate," Red Bull team prin- cipal Christian Horner said. "The break-in caused significant damage and was very upsetting for our night officers who were on du- t y at the time. 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." Horner said he was puzzled about why anyone would want to steal trophies whose intrinsic value is low. "Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these tro- phies," he said. "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 tro- phies on display were replicas." Horner said that, regrettably, Red Bull would probably have to make their site less accessible in the future. "The actions of these men mean it's likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the fu- ture." he added. "That will be unfair on the hun- dreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car. "We would like to appeal to any- one who knows any information on the whereabouts of these tro- phies or the offenders involved to contact Thames Valley Police." Austrian team Red Bull entered Formula One in 2005 and their driver Sebastian Vettel won the world drivers' championship four years in a row from 2010-2013. The team also topped the con- structors' standings in each of those years. They missed out in 2014 to Mer- cedes, who dominated a season in which their drivers Lewis Ham- ilton and Nico Rosberg finished well clear at the top of the drivers' standings. The entrance to Red Bull's factory in Milton Keynes was smashed by a silver 4x4 on Saturday morning Sebastian Vettel poses next to the Red Bull trophy cabinet at the factory in Milton Keynes earlier this week