[Iceman]

Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button was confronted by a gang of machine-gun-wielding robbers after racing in Brazil yesterday.

The driver said six men trained their guns on his car as he left the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo where he had earlier qualified for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Jenson Button

Ordeal: Jenson who was in the car with his father John, escaped the muggers

Jenson, 30, who was in the car with his father John, escaped the muggers after his driver sped away, bouncing off other cars as he fled.

Jenson, who usually drives himself to and from Grands Prix racetracks, said: ‘My driver bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them.’

The Formula 1 star, who described the incident as ‘very scary’, was on his way back to his luxury hotel when his bulletproof Mercedes was intercepted by the gunmen at about 7pm local time.

A Brazilian policeman hired as his driver by his McLaren F1 team stepped on the accelerator and managed to get to safety.

Jenson, who was also travelling with his manager Richard Goddard and physio Mike Collier, was left shocked.

He said: ‘We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving very slowly on the busy road. I saw a dog come out. It was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. Our guy angled the car and floored it.
Jenson Button and Jessica Michibata

Lucky escape: Button's Japanese-born girlfriend Jessica Michibata was away

‘That’s when we saw all six of them brandishing machine guns. My driver was a legend. It was very scary. I don’t know whether they knew who it was they were ambushing.

‘I said isn’t that a gun and as soon as I said that he angled the car. I am glad I didn’t have Jessica with me. She would have been terrified.’

Button’s Japanese-born girlfriend Jessica Michibata, an underwear model, often comes to races with him, but she is away with work this weekend.

In the past, the employees of several Formula 1 teams have been mugged as they left the track, and Button’s McLaren team, whose engines are supplied by Mercedes, are under instructions not to wear their team uniforms as they travel around Sao Paulo.

The Interlagos track is in a suburb of Sao Paulo, about four miles from the Morumbi area of the city where Button is staying at the Hilton Hotel.

Jenson is almost certain to relinquish his world title today, having qualified in 11th place for today’s race.

Other cars were damaged in the rush to escape and their drivers followed Jenson back to the hotel to get his insurance details.




Glad I'm going to Valencia next year and not Brazil