Jenson Button has spoken out about the attempted hijacking of his armoured car in Brazil on Saturday night as he travelled back to his hotel.
The McLaren pilot praised his driver, a policeman trained for such circumstances, calling him a ‘legend’ for getting him, his father, manager and trainer out of the scary situation.
“We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving slowly on a busy road,” Jenson told the Daily Mail newspaper.
“I saw a dog come out. It was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun,” explained Button. “Our guy angled the car and floored it. That’s when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine-guns.
“My driver was a legend. He bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them.
“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, the driver angled the car.
“I am glad I didn’t have my girlfriend Jessica with me, she would have been terrified,” concluded the current world champion.