Lewis Hamilton slams F1 organizers after his Mercedes team members are robbed and held at gunpoint

What’s the story?

Recently crowned four-time Formula 1 champion, Lewis Hamilton’s team members were held at gunpoint by robbers on Friday night, while they were leaving Interlagos – the Brazilian GP circuit. The Brit took to Twitter to ask everyone to pray for his team who were back at the circuit for the qualifying session on Saturday.

Some of my team were held up at gun point last night leaving the circuit here in Brazil. Gun shots fired, gun held at ones head. This is so upsetting to hear. Please say a prayer for my guys who are here as professionals today even if shaken.

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 11, 2017

This happens every single year here. F1 and the teams need to do more, there’s no excuse!

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 11, 2017

In case you didn’t know

The Brazilian GP will be the penultimate race for this season and there is very little to fight for the teams as both the driver’s and constructor’s challenge have been decided. Free practice sessions are held on Fridays and this is the very reason why all the teams remain present at the circuit till late in the night.

The heart of the matter

Apart from the Mercedes team, members from Williams and officials from the FIA were also in the convoy of cars targeted by the robbers near the circuit, but managed to escape when the traffic lights holding the cars stationary changed and allowed them to move on.

Hamilton said gunshots were fired and a member of the team had a firearm held to the head. In a statement, the F1 team said: "Valuables were stolen but everybody is safe and uninjured which is the main thing."

What’s next?

This incident is shocking and bound to leave an impact not only on the Mercedes crew but also other teams. Like Hamilton said, his team is back as they are thorough professionals, but their performance can be affected by the psychological trauma which this episode brings with itself.

Author’s take

This is serious breach of security and one which is unpardonable. The F1 teams usually deal with a lot of pressure, which are directly related to their driver’s performances and now if this becomes a matter of life and death then that’s a pity.

This issue has to be serious looked into by F1 authorities and the Brazilian police department.