When a team from Milton Keynes lost a $300,000 diamond in Monaco
It remains one of F1’s biggest mysteries and conspiracies
They say Formula 1 is the most expensive sport in the world, and Monaco is the sport’s jewel in the crown.
This weekend, F1 returns to the tight streets of Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix, fresh off the back of Max Verstappen’s second win of the season last time out, claiming the top step at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
The Monegasque streets have been kind to the team from Milton Keynes down the years, from their first podium in 1997, back when the team was known as Stewart GP, Red Bull’s first podium finish in 2005, and seven wins later.
But back in 2004, one simple mistake sparked one of the biggest mysteries in the sport.
Known back then as Jaguar following Ford’s take over of Stewart in 2000, the team in green has precious little to celebrate in the sport. Mismanaged by the American firm, going through countless team bosses and technical staff, Ford would pull the plug on the team at the end of the season and sell up to Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz, who would go on to rebrand the team Red Bull Racing from 2005.
Their first two Monaco races would see the RB1 and RB2 cars adorned in movie advertising. In 2005, the car was covered in Star Wars decals, and Superman decals the year after. And in 2004, the green Jags were used to promote Ocean’s Twelve.
Stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon were in the paddock to help promote the film, which centres around the heist of a diamond-encrusted Faberge egg. And to mark the event, and as something of a publicity stunt, a diamond worth $300,000 was fixed into the nose of the Jaguars, driven that day by Mark Webber - who would claim MK’s first Monaco win in 2010 - and Christian Klien.
Austrian Klien was in his first season of F1. A Red Bull sponsored driver, and one of the first to come through the squad’s infamous academy, Klien made a solid start to life in the sport, without picking up a point in the opening six races, but proving a reliable hand.
Starting 14th on the grid on a blisteringly hot day on the Cote d’Azur, Klien was slow off the line and dropped further down the order, and came together with one of the other cars. It dislodged his front wing, which then got trapped under his wheels, sending his car twice into the barriers before the Loews hairpin. Hardly the publicity the film wanted. Or was it?
However, when the car was returned to the garage, the diamond was missing. A search was conducted on track, but it was never seen again.
It has been one of F1’s longest standing mysteries. Was the diamond ever really on the nose? Was it pinched by a crafty marshal? Is it embedded in a tyre somewhere around Monaco, or simply kicked into the gutters of the street and eventually washed into the sea?
If anything, the mystery is perfectly in keeping with the chicanery and deception of the Ocean’s series, though the manner - a pretty tame crash at the start of the Grand Prix - may not have been the ideal circumstance.