Jenson Button and his wife Jessica Michibata were gassed at their luxury French villa as robbers looted the house and stole belongings worth £300,000.
The couple - who had been asleep - lay unconscious in bed as the burglars rifled through the rented St Tropez home, taking items including 30-year-old Jessica’s £250,000 engagement ring.
French police believe the gang had been watching the villa for days before letting off a cannister of anaesthetic gas into an air-conditioning vent.
The raiders then broke into the luxury mansion and even walked around the couple’s bed. Three friends were also staying in the couple’s rented retreat, who are also believed to have been rendered unconscious.
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Jenson Button (left) and wife Jessica were gassed in a robbery at their home in the south of France
The couple were staying at the property in St Tropez (pictured in file image) with three friends
Jessica's £250,000 engagement ring, pictured, was among the belongings stolen in the raid
The couple, who were staying at the rented property with three friends, only discovered they had been targeted when they woke up the next morning and realised the house had been ransacked.
Button, 35, who won the Formula 1 drivers’ championship in 2009, has a £71million fortune and was ranked as the third richest British sports star in this year’s Sunday Times Sport Rich List.
A source close to the McLaren driver told the Sun: ‘Police have told Jenson they’re convinced the burglars gassed the house using the air conditioning units.
‘Over the past five years, it’s becoming an increasingly common way for top criminals to launch raids on expensive properties in the area without being disturbed.
‘Jenson is convinced that’s what happened too. The burglars were in the same room as him and Jessica, rifling through all their drawers.
‘But they weren’t disturbed at all because the effects of the gas gives the burglars free reign.
‘It was the same for their three other friends — they were all completely out of it.’ Local police interviewed Button, his friends and his wife and are believed to be continuing their investigation by trying to identify the burglars using CCTV.
The group are understood to have left St Tropez hours after the raid.
It is understood French police believe two criminals were working together on the robbery and had been staking out the luxury villa for the couple’s entire holiday.
Last night a spokesman for Jenson said: ‘Jenson, Jessica and friends were on holiday in a rented villa.
‘Two men broke into the property whilst they all slept and stole a number of items of jewellery including, most upsettingly, Jessica’s engagement ring.
‘The police have indicated that this has become a growing problem in the region with perpetrators going so far as to gas their proposed victims through the air conditioning units before breaking in.
‘Whilst unharmed, everyone involved is unsurprisingly shaken by the events.’ 
Button (right) married Michibata married in Hawaii over the festive break last year
Button (left) with wife Jessica during a run ahead of the London Marathon in April
A spokesman for Button said: 'Jenson, Jessica and friends were on holiday in a rented villa in St Tropez when on Monday evening two men broke into the property whilst they all slept and stole a number of items of jewellery including, most upsettingly, Jessica's engagement ring.
'The police have indicated that this has become a growing problem in the region with perpetrators going so far as to gas their proposed victims through the air conditioning units before breaking in.
'Whilst unharmed everyone involved is unsurprisingly shaken by the events.'
A spate of gas attacks on wealthy visitors to the French Riviera has been noted for at least 15 years, including a 2002 attack in Cannes on Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.
Button sits in his car in the garage ahead of a practice session for the British Grand Prix last month
The thieves are said to slip through balconies or open windows and direct the sedative into bedroom air-conditioning units.
The gangs wear masks to avoid succumbing to the gas before ransacking their victim’s home and stealing any valuable property.
In 2010, British women Lisa Smyth reported that she and her son were drugged and robbed at the family home in Valbonne, southern France.
French police have previously blamed the activity on Russian or Romanian gangs, who target the conspicuously wealthy.
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