The four-time Formula 1 world champion had his bag stolen through a car window outside his hotel in Spain but soon after hopped on a scooter to chase it down.
Aston Martin driver Vettel did this by tracking his headphones, only to find they had been cast aside so that the thief could make their escape with the rest of the contents.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Monaco GP about the incident for the first time, Vettel explained: “I was checking out in the morning from the hotel and had my bag in the car.
“When I just quickly went back in and came back out, the bag was gone.
“After a while I realised that my headphones were in the bag, and I could locate them. I found the headphones but didn't find the bag, so it was not really a chase.
“Obviously a bit disappointed to lose the bag.
“[The headphones] were in the bag, but then once I found them, they were in a flowerpot. I guess the person who stole it, he or she knew exactly that you can be tracked.”
Vettel was asked whether he had any concern for his own personal safety by attempting to pursue the thieves, but he said: “I wanted my bag - that was all that was in my mind”.
The German added that he had wanted to track down his belongings to avoid the tedium of replacing documents, but nothing too valuable had been taken overall. That, he reckoned, made it not “a great deal” for the culprits.
He continued: “There was not much valuables there.
“I wasn't sure at the time whether my passport was in there or not. As it happened, it was in another bag, so I was lucky.
“But I had like ID and insurance card, driver's licence - that just boring stuff that takes time to get back and you have to apply and fill out the forms. I wasn't very looking forward to that.
“Fortunately, there was no money in there. I had some bandages in there for the knee [burned on his motorbike ahead of the Spanish GP].
“I guess whoever picked the backpack, it wasn't a great deal because the only thing that was valuable maybe was the headphones, which he had to sort of lose to not be found.
“But I really liked the backpack though!
“I was just going there to see if I can spot somebody and maybe nick it back and then jump back on the scooter but there was nobody there.”
