Monaco GP's infamous 'diamond heist' saw F1 team lose $300,000 jewel in bizarre film promotion

The iconic Monaco Grand Prix takes place this weekend, as Max Verstappen looks to close the gap on championship leader Oscar Piastri and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.

Ahead of the race, those of us at SPORTbible towers have decided to look back on an audacious marketing stunt at the 2004 iteration of the race, that quickly spiralled into one of F1's strangest unsolved mysteries.

In May of that year, the F1 circus arrived in Monaco. Just one unique detail stood up - Jaguar had mounted a $300,000 (£223,000) diamond on the nose cone of their F1 car.

The British car company had teamed up with Warner Brothers and diamond company Steinmetz to promote the release of jewel heist film Ocean’s Twelve.

In turn, the cars of Mark Webber and rookie Christian Klien were each kitted out with an uninsured 1.4-carat diamond.

Of course, the stunt backfired as Klien crashed on the very first lap at the Loews hairpin.

While the Austrian was unhurt, he retired from the race and his car was returned to the garage. But there was one problem - the diamond had vanished.

Given there was no footage of the crash, speculation subsequently mounted regarding the diamond’s whereabouts, with some claiming the gemstone was lodged in the crash barrier and others suggesting it had been swept into the harbour via a storm drain.

Jaguar mounted a $300,000 diamond on the nose cone of their F1 car (Darren Heath/Getty Images)

The team's spokesperson Nav Sidhu later admitted his concern upon the crash was not the condition of the driver, but instead, where the missing diamond may be.

While it was never found, the stunt succeeded in giving Oceans 12 widespread media attention.

Jaguar would go on to exit F1 at the end of that campaign, selling the team to Red Bull Racing.

Meanwhile, the missing diamond remains a curiosity for F1 fans at the Monaco GP.