Police in the Czech Republic have finally arrested the driver of a Formula 1-type racing car which had been spotted on the motorway on numerous occasions since 2019.
The red racing car, decked out in full Ferrari livery, was followed to a property in the village of Buk, some 60km (37 miles) south-west of Prague, after the latest sighting was reported to police.
Video emerged on Sunday morning showing the distinctive car driving along the D4 motorway and stopping for petrol.
The driver – a 51-year-old man – was arrested at his home and taken into custody after briefly refusing to get out of the vehicle.
Video footage captured by local media showed him sitting in the car in front of his garage, arguing with officers and saying they were trespassing on private property.
Eventually he relented and agreed to be taken to a police station for questioning – still wearing his red racing driver’s outfit and helmet.
According to subsequent media reports he refused to answer any questions when he got there.
A man identified as his son told local media that the house had been surrounded by several dozen police cars and a helicopter, in what he said was a disproportionate response “to a supposed traffic violation of ours.”
He said police “allegedly saw us towing a Formula 1 car which they claimed had been speeding along the motorway a few minutes earlier – of course we know absolutely nothing about this.”
Police first managed to speak with the phantom F1 driver in 2019, when images and video of the car on the motorway first started to appear online.
They tracked down the vehicle and questioned its owner, who denied ever driving it on the motorway. It is unclear if that is the same person police have now arrested.
Because the driver wore a helmet in the videos and photos, they could not be identified and police were unable to take the matter any further.
The vehicle has frequently been described as “a Ferrari Formula 1 car”.
However, according to the website auto.cz it is in fact a Dallara GP2/08 – a racing car developed by the Italian manufacturer Dallara for use in the GP2 Series, a feeder series for Formula One.
The contest has since been rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Regardless of its exact provenance the owner now faces a fine for driving a vehicle on the motorway without headlights, indicators or number plates, and could have his driving licence suspended.
