F1 2010! :d

[Gregoris]

omg thats crazy! and i was thinking i wanted to go to brazil :S but it is too expensive.. does this mean button wont race today?

Formula 1 World champion Jenson Button has escaped unhurt from an attempted armed attack as he was driven away from the Brazilian GP circuit on Saturday.

His McLaren team said Button, who won his title in Brazil a year ago, was in traffic outside the Interlagos circuit when a group of men with guns targeted his car.

Button said: "We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving slowly on a busy road.

"I saw a dog come out, which was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. I said, 'Isn't that a gun?' and as soon as I said that, the driver angled the car and floored it'All of them were brandishing machine guns' - Button.

"That's when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine guns."

McLaren said Button was quickly driven away from danger by an armed policeman trained in avoidance techniques who was at the wheel of the bullet-proof Mercedes provided by the team.

Button's father John, his manager Richard Goddard and physiotherapist Mike Collier were also in the car.

Goddard said they'd left the circuit at 7pm local time and were stationary in a queue of cars when they spotted a group of men running out of a building to their right.

"I noticed one of the guys had what looked like a big truncheon and then someone shouted 'One of them has got a gun'," he said. "And another one seemed to have a much bigger weapon.

"The guy pulled the gun out and someone else pulled an even bigger one out and they came running over towards the car'Thankfully the Mercedes was bloody strong' - Goddard. We told the driver 'Go, Go, Go'."

The driver hit several other cars as he forced his way through the traffic to safety, Goddard said.

"Thankfully the Mercedes was bloody strong and we had a police driver. If we hadn't it would have been potentially a very nasty situation - they certainly weren't carrying handguns.

"I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't got the car out."

McLaren said the Sao Paulo authorities would be providing additional security to transfer the drivers and other senior team personnel to the circuit for Sunday's penultimate race of 2010.

Although the area around Interlagos has become more built up over the years there are still favelas, or shanty towns, in the vicinity while Sao Paulo is a sprawling city with one of the highest crime rates in South America.

Teams are always on the watch for attempted armed attacks on members leaving the circuit after previous incidents over the years despite a strong police presence.

Members of the Toyota team were ambushed at gunpoint four years ago as they left the circuit, with shots fired by a gang of youths who also tried to kick in their car windows. None suffered any injury.

Goddard said he had noticed a group of about 70 policemen being talked to by an officer less than 200 metres further up the hill from the incident.

'BASICALLY IMPOSSIBLE'

Button had earlier qualified 11th, with his four title rivals well ahead of him, and his hopes of retaining the title are likely to be extinguished on Sunday.

He said: "Before, there was a slither of hope of retaining the championship but now it's gone, it's basically impossible."

That was his best qualifying display in Brazil for the past five years but still a major disappointment for Button who won his crown at Interlagos with Brawn in 2009.

He said: "My main aim is just to have some fun tomorrow and see how many points we can get."

Hamilton, who will start fourth, is 21 points behind Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso with two races remaining while Button is 42 off the pace.

Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, second and third on the grid respectively, are 25 points and 11 behind Alonso who will start fifth.

Button needed to win on Sunday and hope for the best but, with the other four title contenders well ahead of him on the starting grid, it will take a major misfortune for the Briton to beat them.

Instead, he will focus on helping McLaren in the constructors' standings where it is 27 points behind Red Bull.

"I can't really do much if I wanted to anyway from 11th on the grid, unless I wait for them all to come around," he said, showing he retained his sense of humour when asked if he could play a supporting role.

"But that's illegal.

"The best thing I can do for the team and both of us is to get as many points as I can tomorrow. That's going to help Lewis and McLaren as a whole.

"I'm looking forward to the race; there will be a lot of opportunities. I've had some pretty good races here from further back," he added - Reuters

 

[iGaz]

Don't think it will affect his race. Very scary though. Good job he was well protected and had a good driver. The outcome could of been very different.

Download the lotus racing app to your phone has all the latest news. Can even get push alerts. I suggest you turn them off if your not watching the race live!

 

[Gregoris]

i can watch the race live but on a 13 inch screen, if i can find out how to get a uk proxy for my ps3 then i could watch it live on a 60 inch screen but the app i used in vmware fusion was a .exe that installed onto ie and gave me a uk ip and i dont have a lead to hook it up to my tv so it sucks i have to wait and download it or put up with a tiny screen lol..

nice handy app though i will dl it if its free

 

[iGaz]

I can just turn my tv on. Lol. Take it they don't had F1 on the tv where you are then?

The apps free

 

[Gregoris]

lol we have the f1 here but the channel that has it we have to pay for a box to get it... its a good channel LTV but we dont pay for it because our antenna sucks and our tv does not even get analog signal.... so that and the free channel airs it many hours later at stupid hours with breaks every 5 seconds... so its much better off downloading it or using a proxy to get it on the tv... i need to get my ps3 on a uk proxy so i can watch it live

its on in 30 minutes

 

[iGaz]

We used to have adverts on ITV it sucked! BBC has much better coverage anyway. The interactive forum and red button stuff is amazing! You can download the interactive stuff on the box too by the way

I've been watching the pre race build up just now but my daughters just came back from her grans so no more peace for me Will just have to watch it later tonight now!

 

[Gregoris]

that sucks but bbci will have it for u

 

[iGaz]

The box is better. Have it on my sky+ aswell

 

[Gregoris]

the box? like a dvd recorder?

 

[iGaz]

No thebox.bz Sky+ is like a DVD recorder only way better!

That will be the race started by now

 

[Gregoris]

so thats how they do it they record it straight from tv and upload it faster the bbc

btw i been uploading ALL day and this is it only..

Ratio: 1.910 +319.95 MB UL: 671.43 MB DL: 351.47 MB Act: 3 0 Invites: 0 My Reseeds My Snatches


so slow....

 

[iGaz]

Clever eh? Lol

 

[Gregoris]

yup i thought they just downloaded it from bbc lol

 

[Gregoris]

what time does the race finish any way? 7:30?

 

[iGaz]

The BBC programme is due to finish at 6:15