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Sao Paulo by the suspects who posed a s d e l ive r y men. Her o rd e a l was brought to an end apparently without a ransom being paid when armed police stormed a hideout in the nearby city of Cotia last night and found Mrs Schunk tied up. She was overcome with emotion as she hugged family and friends waiting outside.

Speaking briefly before being led away, Mrs Schunk said: “I just ask that the crooks do not kidnap anyone else in Sao Paulo because they will be arrested.”

The city’s elite anti-kidnap division traced her to a flat in a rundown neighbourhood after investigators monitored phone calls between the kidnappers and the Ecclestone family.

Neighbours said officers broke down a door and no shots were fired. Officers said two men were arrested at the hideout amid reports that police were still hunting other members of the gang, including the alleged ringleader.

Elisabete Sato of Sao Paulo police said the ransom, thought to have been the largest in Brazilian history, had not been paid.

Mr Ecclestone, 85, married Ms Flosi, 38, in 2012, three years after meeting her at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The pair live in the UK and he is said to be the fourth richest person in the country with an estimated £2.5 billion fortune.

It is understood Mr Ecclestone had wanted to fly to Brazil to help in the investigation and had even offered the services of a private security company to deal with the kidnappers.

But police told him that his presence mi g h t b e c o u n t e r p ro d u c t ive and advised him and his wife to remain in the UK. The arrested men were named locally as Vitor Oliveira Amorim and Davi Vicente Azevedo.

The suspects had reportedly seized Mrs Schunk from her home in Interlagos, close to the Brazilian Grand Prix circuit before making off in two cars.

Using only part of the number plate, police were able to track them down to Cotia, where they were monitored until last night. They launched a rescue bid just after 6.30pm.

In the meantime, the kidnappers were in contact with the Ecclestone family. The property where Mrs Schunk was found is divided into five flats.

The owner of the house said his wife had not stopped crying since she found out that Mrs Schunk had been held “right under our noses”. He said one of the suspects had started renting the flat three months previously and had told him he worked nights. He added he had recently gone to the one-bedroom flat to check on the kitchen but had been told by his tenant: “Don’t go in there, my girlfriend is in there.”

Mrs Schunk was kidnapped on July 22 and her captors had apparently asked for the 120 million reais (£28 million) to