Colapinto deletes Italy theft joke after backlash
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 12, 2026
Colapinto backlash
Franco Colapinto deleted social media posts after backlash followed his joke about a theft in Italy. The Formula 1 driver said thieves stole his suitcases, clothes and mate kit while he was at Lake Como during Formula 1’s summer break in northern Italy. He posted photos of the stolen items and first tried to turn the loss into a joke. In a deleted post, he wrote that Italians would steal everything from a Latino. He later changed that reference to “Europeans” before deleting the message. He also said he hoped whoever took the items “enjoys it.” The response online turned quickly negative because the posts compared safety in Italy and Argentina. Colapinto’s comments drew attention for the wrong reasons at a time when he was dealing with the loss of his belongings, not celebrating a lighthearted story. The sequence moved from an attempted joke to a larger public dispute, then to the posts disappearing from his account. The reaction left the theft story tied to the words he used to describe it.
Lake Como theft
The theft happened while Colapinto was away from the track during the series’ summer shutdown, when many drivers were out of competition and traveling. He said the stolen items included luggage, clothing and his mate kit, a personal set of belongings he had with him at Lake Como. He also shared photos of the missing items on social media, putting the theft in front of followers before the posts were removed. The driver said he was not confronted during the incident, which left the break-in without a direct face-to-face encounter. That detail matters in a week when the focus should have stayed on a quiet pause in the Formula 1 calendar. Instead, the situation became a public conversation because of the message he attached to the loss. The photos, the joke and the deletion created a clear sequence. The theft came first. The social media reaction followed. The criticism then pushed him to rewrite the post once before he removed it. The Lake Como setting gave the story a familiar travel backdrop, but the core of it stayed simple. Colapinto said his things were taken, and he later pulled back the posts that turned the incident into a joke.
Formula 1 thefts
Colapinto’s experience also fit a run of recent crime-related thefts involving Formula 1 drivers. Lando Norris was mugged outside Wembley Stadium in 2023. Charles Leclerc had his watch stolen in Viareggio. Carlos Sainz chased down robbers after an attempted watch theft in Milan. Those incidents gave Colapinto’s case a wider frame even before his deleted posts drew attention online. The summer shutdown often sends drivers away from the paddock and into ordinary public places, and that leaves them exposed in ways racing does not. In this case, the theft happened in northern Italy, away from the circuit and away from the trackside setting fans usually see. The aftermath then shifted from a private loss to a public discussion because of the language Colapinto used and then removed. The stolen suitcases, clothes and mate kit stayed at the center of the episode, but the reaction around the posts gave the story its bigger reach. Colapinto did not face the thieves, but he did face a wave of criticism once the message compared Italians, later Europeans, with a broader claim about who would steal from him. That response helped turn a simple theft report into another entry in Formula 1’s recent string of off-track crime stories.
