Formula One world champion Jenson Button was ambushed by an armed gang in Sao Paulo yesterday, while being driven back to the hotel after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Everyone in the car managed to escape unharmed, thanks to the efforts of their police driver.

Button was in the car with his father, manager and trainer when the attack occurred. The gang consisted of six men armed with machine guns.

Button described the situation like this:

“I saw a dog come out, which was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. I said ‘isn’t that a gun?’ and as soon as I said that, the driver angled the car and floored it. That’s when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine guns.”

The four passengers were lucky to have been given an armoured Mercedes and police driver by McLaren. This decision was made due to the high rate of gun crimes in Sao Paulo.

The driver received a lot of praise from the car’s occupants, and even the Formula One world champion complimented his driving:

“My driver was a legend. He bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them. It was very scary.”

It’s nice to see that everyone is alright, and hopefully such a situation won’t be repeated in the future.

Source: UKPA | Image: Niki Odolphie / CC BY 2.0