The dangers of racing in Brazil are clearly evident. Not only did Jenson Button suffer a nightmare journey back to his hotel, which saw six armed men attempt to hijack his Mercedes, but three Sauber mechanics were successfully robbed at gunpoint along the same stretch of road.
The Sauber outfit released a statement confirming the armed robbery, which saw five ‘bandits’ hold up their mini-van, finally escaping with two backpacks.
“Three Sauber Motorsport engineers were leaving the paddock on Saturday night in a mini van at around 8pm,” read the statement.
“The attack happened at the traffic lights near the fuel station, not far from gate seven [on the circuit]. Nobody was injured.
“The mini van had stopped at the red light in the right hand lane. Five bandits went to the van, one of them carrying a machine gun. After they had been threatened with the gun, the engineer sitting in the passenger seat opened the car’s door and the bandits took the two back packs which he had stored by his feet.
“One back pack was almost empty, but the other one contained a mobile phone, passport and other personal belongings. The team reported the incident to the police.”
