4-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel reportedly had to put his speed to the test after the Spanish Grand Prix ... chasing after a group of thieves who made off with his bag.
Vettel -- who finished P11 on Sunday -- was reportedly exiting his Aston Martin in Barcelona on Monday when the robbers grabbed his backpack and made a run for it.
Apparently, Vettel wasn't going down without a fight -- because according to local reports, he hopped on a scooter and used the GPS tracking on his AirPods to hunt down his bag.
Unfortunately for Vettel, the thieves must've planned ahead ... because once he made it to his headphones, they were not with his bag.
A rep for AM spoke about the incident ... saying, "A bag belonging to Sebastian Vettel was stolen in Barcelona this morning; he tried to find it by using his iPhone to track his earphones which were in his bag; but when he located his earphones he found them abandoned and was therefore unable to locate his stolen bag."
F1 drivers have had bad luck with getting robbed recently -- as we previously reported, Charles Leclerc had his $320k watch stolen as he met with fans last month.