27 May 2023 , 09:12
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From Graham Hill to Michael Schumacher to Lewis Hamilton - the Monaco Grand Prix has produced plenty of famous memories for F1 fans.
But for Jaguar Racing, who dined at motorsport's top table from 2000-2004, the glamour venue represents one of the great unsolved mysteries. And it all involved a first lap crash, a Hollywood blockbuster movie, A-list celebrities, and a missing £140,000 diamond - although that value is conservative in the eyes of many.
The team were under huge pressure that season, with owners Ford, and main sponsors HSBC, seemingly running low on patience after a series of underwhelming performances. So not only did drivers Mark Webber and Christian Klien arrive in Monaco targeting some Constructors' points, but the team also decided to execute some huge PR plans to generate revenue as well.
Bosses took the ill-fated decision to launch a huge promotion that was coupled with the film Ocean's Twelve - with George Clooney and Brad Pitt attending as guests. And supplementing the suddenly star-studded team garage was the idea of real diamonds being placed on the nosecones of the two Jaguar R5 cars.
And the plan proved as doomed as the one to score points. Austrian driver Klien was involved in a dramatic first lap collision, with his car subsequently removed from the track via a crane. But Klien's hopes of an impressive showing wasn't the only thing that vanished there, with the button-sized diamond missing from the damaged car - and never seen again.
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Nav Sidhu served as Jaguar Racing's director of communications at the time, and told The Drive that the team were well aware of the dangers of such a stunt: “If there was no jeopardy, there wouldn't be a story in it in the first place. There’s nothing remotely interesting about putting a diamond on a car, other than situations where there might be a risk to that diamond," he said.
Christian Klien crashed on the opening lap (Action Images)Due to safety regulations, it took the team two hours before they were able to remove the car, by which time the precious diamond was gone. Despite hundreds of photos of the saga later circulating, an extensive search amid amid scrutiny over the marshals, it was never ever recovered.
Theories have since raged, and Sidhu has since admitted: “There wasn’t an insurance company on the planet that would insure half a million pounds worth of diamond stones when they go Grand Prix racing. But we knew that, and that was the calculated risk that was factored into the agreement."
However, he also defiantly admitted that the team's PR project proved worth it, despite the missing diamond: “The benefit [of teaming up with Ocean's Twelve] far outweighed the cost. Even before we got to Sunday afternoon, we’d already generated tens of millions of dollars of coverage around the world,” he insisted.
But as the eyes of the world descend on Monaco again this weekend Sidhu, former Jaguar officials, and F1 fans will continue to wonder where the expensive addition to Klien's car ever ended up.