Bernie Ecclestone, the former chief executive of Formula One, was stopped at an airport in Portugal on Monday after police discovered a shotgun on his private jet without the necessary import documents. The 95-year-old told Reuters that he was transporting the firearm from Switzerland for a clay pigeon shooting event.
Ecclestone, who was traveling with his wife Fabiana Flosi, landed at Tires airfield near Cascais. He explained that he had the gun for clay pigeon shooting in Switzerland and intended to participate in an event in Portugal. He stated that he did not possess the required "blue book" for importing the weapon into the country.
According to Ecclestone, he passed through customs but was subsequently questioned by police about the gun. He described the situation as "unnecessary aggravation." Flosi, vice president for sport at Formula One's governing body, accompanied a customs official to Lisbon to surrender the shotgun to authorities. Ecclestone confirmed he had signed some documents as requested.
Portuguese newspapers were the first to report the incident, citing police sources who said the shotgun was discovered during a routine check. Ecclestone, who previously raced and managed the commercial aspects of Formula One for roughly 40 years before his ouster in 2017, owns a home in the adjacent resort area.
This incident recalls a similar event in 2022 when Ecclestone was briefly detained in Brazil for carrying an unregistered handgun while boarding a private plane. At the time, he acknowledged owning the gun but claimed he was unaware it was in his luggage, dismissing the matter as minor.