Gun scare sparks rush to fly home

SEVERal of lewis Hamilton’s mercedes team brought forward their travel plans by a day to leave Sao Paulo after a terrifying hold-up at gunpoint. the F1 community has been on edge after four alarming incidents over the weekend, the most shocking of which befell eight members of Hamilton’s crew — mostly mechanics — at around 10pm on Friday. one had a gun pointed at his head while the group had laptops, wallets and passports stolen when held up in dense traffic on their journey from Interlagos to their hotel. Since then, police convoys have escorted teams to and from the track. organisers also issued advice on not wearing kit or passes that would identify travellers as F1 personnel. Hamilton has been an outspoken critic of the sport’s powers-that-be for not doing enough to combat a threat that has been a regular feature of the Sao Paulo race. Jenson Button escaped an attempted mugging here in 2010, when world champion. ‘I was horrified to hear what happened,’ said Hamilton. ‘the frustrating thing is I have been in F1 for 10 years and every year that has happened to someone in the paddock. things should be in place to keep everyone safe. and it’s for the people at the top to take action to keep everyone safe. ‘It’s no good just the bosses or myself having security; everyone else needs to be looked after.’ officials from the FIa, motorsport’s governing body, were targeted by hooded youths who tapped a gun at the window of their car. However, the windows were bullet-proof and the muggers could not get inside. Williams

staff also witnessed a robbery ahead of them in traffic. though most of the F1 circus will have left Brazil by tonight, some McLaren staff are staying for a tyre test involving Lando Norris, the ‘New Lewis Hamilton’ who turns 18 today. a spokesman for Liberty Media, the sport’s owners, said it was up to the circuit and local authorities to ensure safety this week.