Lewis Hamilton says he was “upset” by news that personnel from his Mercedes team were robbed at gunpoint in Sao Paulo on Friday night.<\/p>\n
A van of Mercedes workers was held up on the road away from the Interlagos track. No-one was hurt in the incident.<\/p>\n
Hamilton said: “Gun shots fired, gun held at one’s head. This is so upsetting to hear.<\/p>\n
“It happens every single year here. F1 and the teams need to do more. No excuse.”<\/p>\n
Hamilton added: “Please say a prayer for my guys, who are here as professionals today even if shaken.”<\/p>\n
A Mercedes spokesman said: “Valuables were stolen but most importantly everybody is safe and uninjured.”<\/p>\n
Other F1 personnel had near-misses on the same road, which is notorious for robberies.<\/p>\n
A gunman approached a car containing officials from governing body the FIA and tapped his weapon on the window, but the vehicle was armoured with bulletproof glass and they escaped.<\/p>\n
A car containing Williams team members was behind the FIA car and was approached by a gunman but managed to leave the scene safely.<\/p>\n
They are the latest in a series of incidents affecting F1 personnel at the Brazilian Grand Prix in recent years.<\/p>\n
Former F1 driver Jenson Button escaped a similar\u00a0attempted robbery in 2010<\/a>\u00a0when his driver, again in an armoured car, charged through stationary traffic to get away.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"