Red Bull's Stolen Formula One Trophies May Be Scrapped For Silver

Red Bull Racing advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has seen the video of the bizarre trophy burglary from over the weekend and told German newspaper Die Welt today that he believes that the trophies will be scrapped.

While many of the trophies in the case were cheap reproductions, there is still silver content, and silver prices have gone through the roof.

"We suspect that the gang will melt our trophies down, judging by the way they were thrown carelessly into the car," Marko explained the likely destination of the trophies to Die Welt, as reported on Motorsport.com. "The price of silver is currently very high and they can't be sold because they are too unique."

Sixty-four trophies were stolen in total, which is almost half of the 142 trophies the team has earned in F1. "If you are talking about five to ten pounds of silver per cup, it's a few thousand euros in total," explained Marko to Die Welt.

The thieves drove a silver 4x4 through Red Bull's front doors. The trophy case was hit by a sledgehammer, and then ten masked men threw them into the vehicles before driving away. Per Marko, they were finished in two and a half minutes.

The local BBC affiliate has some new photos of Red Bull's ongoing repairs to the building, which at the moment includes a lot of tarps.

Bizarrely, this isn't the first English motorsport shop to have had a trophy burglary. GP2 and GP3 team Carlin had their trophies stolen last year.

"The irony is the trophies are pretty much worthless to anyone but us," explained team principal Trevor Carlin to Sky Sports. "They have great sentimental value to the team and there's a story behind every one."

Detroit has copper, and England has trophies, I guess. Maybe Red Bull needs to install a dilapidated porch to the front of their factory instead.

Photo credit: Getty Images