Paddock gossip from Brazil - Part I

Updated



Nasty shock for Jenson Button: The reigning world champion was threatened by a group of locals armed with baseball bats and guns on the way back from the circuit to his hotel. His driver managed to speed away and no-one was harmed. Dangerous place, Sao Paulo!

Sometimes, Formula One seems to inhabit a sort of cocoon. Following the attempted carjacking on Jenson Button as he travelled between the circuit and his hotel, the 2009 champion was asked whether it might not have been better to use a less high-profile vehicle. "It's not possible to have more of an understatement than a Mercedes 200B," he replied. "It would be hard to sink any lower." In view of all the poverty in Brazil, not exactly the most tactful of statements...

Advertisement