Mercedes F1 Staff Robbed At Gunpoint In Brazil, Hamilton Says It Happens Every Year

A potentially deadly encounter ended without incident on Saturday when members of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team were robbed at gunpoint in Brazil.

Autosport reports that robbers stopped a van carrying members of the team from the Interlagos circuit where the Brazilian Grand Prix is being held this weekend.

The team's star driver Lewis Hamilton revealed that shots were fired, and a gun even held to one team member's head. Fortunately while valuables were reportedly stolen, no one was physically harmed in the incident.

The van was reportedly traveling in a convoy together with members of the Williams team and FIA officials, but the other vehicles managed to flee the scene when traffic cleared.

"This happens every single year here,” Hamilton tweeted. “F1 and the teams need to do more, there's no excuse!"

The most prominent of these incidents occurred in 2010 when robbers tried to hijack Jenson Button's car as he left the track. Button drove alongside Hamilton that year at McLaren, having won the championship the year before with the Brawn GP team subsequently acquired by Mercedes.