Overview
- Valtteri Bottas’ locked Cadillac Escalade vanished from a Fort Lauderdale Airbnb driveway on Saturday morning, with the keys still inside the house and his paddock pass in the car.
- Bottas said on his What's Next podcast that local police and the FBI launched a full investigation due to the pass and a VIP parking permit that could enable access to the paddock.
- The SUV was found the next day abandoned in what he called a high‑crime, “dodgy” neighborhood, suggesting the thief did not target the race credential.
- He obtained an identical replacement vehicle and brought in an armed guard to watch the Airbnb overnight to prevent another theft.
- Keyless vehicles can be stolen via a relay attack that amplifies a fob’s signal from inside a home, a tactic Bottas referenced while noting thieves can also disable trackers.