In a bizarre twist worthy of a Hollywood script, Cadillac Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas found himself carless just hours before the Miami Grand Prix this month. The Finnish star revealed on the "What's next?" podcast that thieves swiped his company car—a Cadillac Escalade—from outside his accommodation while he was in the shower.

"The keys were inside the house, the car was locked, but it still vanished," Bottas recounted, still sounding bewildered. The timing couldn't have been worse: with the race weekend looming, Bottas needed to focus on the track, not track down a missing vehicle.

Fortunately, his Cadillac Formula One team sprang into action, dispatching a replacement Escalade to get him back on the road. But the drama didn't end there. Bottas soon realized his paddock pass—essential for accessing the high-security F1 paddock—was in the stolen car. A quick call to F1 management saved the day, granting him entry without the physical pass.

Local police launched an investigation and eventually located Bottas' stolen vehicle abandoned. In a twist that adds salt to the wound, authorities believe the thieves used the Escalade as a getaway car in another crime before ditching it. For Bottas, it was a costly distraction ahead of a high-stakes race weekend—but at least he made it to the grid.