Jenson Button in attempted car-jacking in Sao Paulo

Jenson Button, the defending Formula One World Champion, has described how he was threatened by men brandishing machine guns in an attempted car-jacking in Sao Paulo.

The British driver was travelling back from the qualifying round of the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he is competing today, when six men surrounded his black Mercedes B-Class, which is fitted with bullet-proof glass.

He was with his father, John, his trainer, Mike Collier, and manager Richard Goddard and was travelling past the entrance to one of the city’s “favelas”, or shanty towns.

“It was pretty terrifying,” Button said. “We were moving pretty slowly in traffic just outside when we pulled up outside the entrance to one of the favelas. I saw a dog and remarked 'Oh, cute dog’ when about six men came out. One of them appeared to be holding a truncheon.

“Then I said 'hey, isn’t that a gun?’ and as soon as I said that our driver angled the car and just floored it. He was a complete legend. We bounced off about five cars. We were literally driving over the top of them.

“It looked like we may have been targeted.”

Button, 30, qualified in 11th position for today’s race, which is the penultimate competition of the season.

Button is not expected to retain his title, which could be won today by Fernando Alonso.

Brazil’s favelas are notoriously lawless and crime-ridden shanty towns which have grown up on the edge of the country’s major cities.

The harsh life in the slums was depicted in the Oscar nominated 2002 film City of God.

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