Formula 1 steering wheel stolen at Silverstone British Grand Prix

A Formula One steering wheel worth more than £2,500 was stolen from a classic car on display at Silverstone, the car’s engineer said.

Russell Sheppard said the incident at the Northamptonshire racing circuit left a “sour taste in the mouth”.

It was snatched at about 14:30 BST on Friday while team members were eating lunch during the British Grand Prix.

Northamptonshire Police released a CCTV image of a man they wanted to speak to following the theft.

Another of the team’s classic F1 racers on display was used “like a climbing frame” by visitors, it was claimed.

The incidents came during a spate of reported offences at the event, with police making 20 arrests.

YouTuber Angryginge was among the arrests, suspected of causing thousands of pounds of damage to a car, but was released without further action.

Race engineer Mr Sheppard said the stolen wheel was taken from a 1990 Leyton House CG901.

It was only able to make it out onto the track after a replacement wheel was found at the last minute.

Mr Sheppard, who works for Martin Stretton Racing, said the wheel was irreplaceable.

“We’d just left the car for lunch, we came back and went to do some work on the car, and it’s like ‘Where’s the steering wheel?’,” he said.

“It’s very sad because it’s an original piece of the car, [an] original piece of history for it.”

The Leyton House was designed by F1 design guru Adrian Newey for the 1990 Formula One World Championship.

It was due to be driven at Silverstone by Ivan Capelli, who raced with it in 1990.

“I’ve been speaking to the people who made it in Italy originally and, sadly, they don’t produce them anymore,” Mr Sheppard added, referring to the wheel.

“We’ve got to go down the road of getting one bespoke made.”

The engineer said visitors also climbed over a second historic F1 car on display.

“We had a Forti, another 1996 Formula One car on one of the other stands, and people were just using it like a climbing frame,” he said.

“People doing things like this, sadly, it puts a sour taste in your mouth.”

About 500,000 people visited the circuit over the weekend, which saw Lando Norris win the British Grand Prix for the first time in his career.

A total of 34 crimes were reported during the event, including theft, criminal damage, assault and drug possession, police said.