Why Wasn’t the Diamond in the Formula 1 Car Found?

Monaco, the most important race of the Triple Crown and the one with the highest brand value, is among the most iconic races from past to present. For this reason, the Monaco Grand Prix has an important place in terms of advertising. However, a Formula 1 race held in 2004 caused quite a sensation.

So much so that, among the races organized so far, many athletes and thousands of spectators find themselves in such a loud event for the first time. What is the subject of this sensation is It is a diamond worth 300 thousand dollars.

Alright, What is the mystery of this diamond placed in a Formula 1 car?

The Jaguar team rolled up its sleeves to turn this race, which will attract great interest, into an opportunity.

The team was struggling with serious financial problems at that time, and it alleviated its debts to a small extent with the additional revenue it provided, but these revenues were not enough. Then it comes to your mind genius idea came.

The Hollywood production, which will be released in December 2004, includes stars such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Andy Garcia. Ocean’s Twelve was a big production.

Ocean's Twelve

Film producers who want to meet their audiences from the top screen evaluated the offer made to them and said, He signed an agreement with the Jaguar team for the Monaco Grand Prix. As a result of the agreement, it was decided to install diamonds worth 300 thousand dollars each on the front wings of two Jaguar team vehicles.

In this way, the film, which is about a diamond smuggling gang, would be advertised in a very sensational way.

Ocean's Twelve actors

During race week Famous actors of the movie will be in Monaco and various PR activities would be carried out. All PR efforts went as planned until the race started.

Players He took photos with the front wing of the car with diamonds embedded in it, press conferences were held and the actors of the film spent time with race fans who came to watch the race. Until the race starts on Sunday.

Australian pilot Christian Klein, who was in 15th place in the first lap of the race, retired from the race.

moment of accident

The reason for this was that Christian got stuck between two Jordan vehicles and After these contacts, his front wing went under the wheels. The Jaguar vehicle, carrying $300 thousand worth of diamonds on its front wing, crashed into the wall.

moment of accident

Christian Klein managed to get out of the car without any problems, but returned to the Jaguar garage with all parts of the car intact, including the front wing, which was completely broken. The diamond placed on the front wing before the race was missing.

So, what happened to this diamond worth a fortune?

Diamond

The first theory produced, as we can all think, was that one of the track attendants who cleaned the wreckage of the vehicle, The reason was that he took this diamond to his home instead of the Jaguar garage. The Jaguar team boss at the time also stated in an interview that this possibility was strong.

However, when the motorsport photographer who was there that day saw Christian’s car for the first time, The front wing has already folded under the wheels. He stated that he then crashed into the wall.

The photographer added that the officers were right next to him from the beginning to the end of the vehicle recovery process. He said he never saw the diamond at the time of the incident.

In accordance with Formula 1’s safety rules, the wreckage of the vehicles involved in the accident is delivered to the team garages only after the race is over.

officers

This procedure was also performed in Monaco that day, and the Jaguar driven by Christian was It was delivered to the garage only 2 hours after the accident. The company that supplied the diamonds pointed out this situation and claimed that the diamond may have been stolen by Formula 1 officials.

Formula 1 flatly rejected this argument and when the vehicle reached the area where it would be kept, There were no diamonds in the vehicle anyway. He proved it with photographs taken to record the accident.

Another claim made about the missing diamond was that it was thrown away.

Formula 1

After the wreckage of the vehicle was removed, one of the track officials quickly swept the track for the race to start again. He might have thrown away the diamond stuck on a carbon piece without noticing it.

On the other hand, the movie Ocean’s Twelve made a lot of noise due to the accident and the unsolved diamond mystery. It was remembered with the diamond that kept disappearing until it was released.. This made a greater contribution to the film producers in terms of promotion than all PR efforts.

When the film was released months after the incident, it grossed $343 million. So whether this accident was intentional or not, It was obvious that it was very useful to the filmmakers.

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