- Formula 1 driver Jenson Button escaped uninjured after an attack on the car in which he was riding in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday.
- The bulletproof car was driven to safety by a police officer, crashing into several other autos during the emergency escape.
- The ambush, in a poor residential area near the Interlagos racing circuit, was attempted by young men wielding handguns and automatic weapons.
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Formula 1 champion Jenson Button was uninjured after an attack by gunmen on the car in which Button was riding as he left the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in the suburb of Interlagos Saturday.
A Brazilian police officer gunned the bulletproof Mercedes sedan away from the site of the attack, in what online reports described as a "shanty town" near the racetrack. The driver smashed into several cars in the emergency escape.
The attack occurred while several cars were stopped at a traffic light about a kilometer from the racetrack.
"The driver obviously didn't feel comfortable and stopped about a car length back," Button said, according to the Associated Press. "We looked to the right and saw five or six guys walk out of this building at the edge of the road. They looked suspicious. Then they started running toward the car."
Button described the incident as "pretty scary," and lauded the driver as "a legend.... He got us out of trouble."
Also in the car were Button's father, John, along with physiotherapist Mike Collier and manager Richard Goddard.
The same evening, a van from the Sauber racing team was accosted and three crew members were robbed.
The incidents, and preparations such as the armored vehicles provided by McLaren for Button and teammate Lewis Hamilton, underscored the reputation Brazil has for violent crime. The annual Formula 1 visit to Interlagos has been marked by incidents involving fans and others attending the Brazilian Grand Prix in past years.
Despite the nation's crime rate, Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.
Inside Line says: Racing in Brazil is a risky proposition. Criminal organizations and individuals have made the country infamous for its lawlessness, with a United Nations report asserting that some 500,000 were killed by firearms between 1979 and 2003. — David Green, Correspondent
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