Police have finally caught the “phantom” motorist who drove a Formula 1 car on the motorway, with the police targeting the motorist for traffic offences.
Czech authorities have detained a motorist who repeatedly operated a racing vehicle on public roads over a six-year period.
The man had been navigating motorways in a Formula 1-style car since 2019, evading identification despite multiple sightings.
Law enforcement officers tracked the distinctive red vehicle to a residence in Buk, a village approximately 60 kilometres south-west of Prague.
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The ‘phantom speeder’ has been uncovered as a 51-year-old man
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X/POLICIECZ
The arrest of the man followed the most recent incident on Sunday when the racing car was observed travelling on the D4 motorway.
The driver now faces penalties for operating a vehicle lacking essential road safety equipment, including headlights, indicators and registration plates.
Posting on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, authorities suggested that they may also revoke his driving privileges.
The vehicle, adorned in complete Ferrari racing colours, was located after witnesses reported its latest appearance on Sunday morning.
The F1 car has been caught on Czech motorways multiple times in recent years
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X/POLICIECZ
Footage captured the distinctive car refuelling at a petrol station and travelling along the D4 motorway.
Officers followed the racing car to a property in Buk where they confronted the 51-year-old driver.
The vehicle is actually a Dallara GP2/08, an Italian-manufactured car designed for the GP2 Series, which served as a developmental championship for Formula 1 and has since been renamed the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Previous attempts to identify the driver had failed because he consistently wore a helmet during his motorway excursions.
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The suspect initially refused to exit his vehicle when officers arrived at his property, remaining seated in the racing car outside his garage.
He argued that police were unlawfully on his private premises, according to video footage recorded by local media.
The man eventually agreed to accompany officers to the police station while still dressed in his red racing suit and helmet.
Once there, he declined to respond to any questions during interrogation, according to subsequent media reports.
Police had previously encountered the vehicle’s owner in 2019 following initial motorway sightings, but that individual denied operating the car on public roads.
A man identified as the driver’s son told local media that “several dozen police cars and a helicopter” surrounded the house, describing this as an excessive reaction “to a supposed traffic violation”.
He said: “[The 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.”
It remains uncertain whether the arrested individual is the same person the police questioned in 2019, when the racing car first appeared on Czech motorways.
