Jenson Button is relieved that, a year after being threatened by Brazilian bandits with machine guns, he is glad he will have a police escort in Sao Paulo this weekend. As reigning world champion last year, the McLaren driver and his entourage narrowly escaped an armed attack on return to his hotel from the Interlagos circuit.
He insisted on Tuesday, “I’ve no fears going back to Brazil. It had occurred so many times before with mechanics and engineers that in the end it was going to happen to a driver. We have more security this year and I think every driver will have a police escort, which they should do.”
After the incident last year, there were calls for Brazil to lose its place on the F1 calendar.
“I don’t know what else they can do really, it’s a tricky one,” Button conceded. “It is a great circuit, I love that it is on the calendar and I hope that it stays.”
The UK Express newspaper said there will be extra police patrolling the roads around the circuit this year.
“We’re not going to cancel a great race for a few people who cause trouble,” insisted F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
