Phantom driver arrested after driving illegal F1-style car on public roads for years
A phantom driver who had been cruising Czech public roads since 2019 in a Formula 1-style car has been identified and arrested by local police.
The news of the arrest of a 51-year-old man near a gas station in Dobříš, Czech Republic, has been making headlines in the past few hours.
According to some local media, he is a former police officer. The man had been repeatedly spotted driving a red single-seater that looked very much like a Ferrari F1 car since 2019, though it later turned out to be a custom Dallara GP2/08. Each time, he wore a helmet and full racing gear, as if he were a professional driver.
Czech police had already managed to identify both the car and the driver, but due to a lack of evidence—and especially because he always wore a helmet—they were unable to determine whether he had actually driven such a vehicle on public roads before, something that is, of course, illegal in the Czech Republic.
The man, escorted to a property in a small village, initially resisted by telling the officers they were trespassing on private property, but eventually stepped out of the car and was arrested.
He now faces a hefty fine and a driving ban ranging from six to twelve months. On top of that, there are further charges for operating an unregistered vehicle without license plates, insurance, or a motorway vignette, as well as for posing a threat to public safety.
Czech police confirms the arrest
“Thanks to information from drivers, we stopped a Formula driver this morning in the village of Buk who was speeding along the D4 motorway,” the Czech Republic Police wrote on X.
“Police officers identified the driver as a 51-year-old man and then took him to the district police station for questioning. The driver of the car, who was stopped and identified by police officers, refused to comment on the situation when questioned.
“The police will refer the matter to administrative proceedings, where he faces a fine of several thousand crowns and a driving ban.”
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