Bernie Ecclestone Dismisses Arrest Claims Over Shotgun Incident

Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed claims he was arrested in Portugal after arriving with a shotgun, insisting the incident amounted to little more than an airport paperwork problem.

The 95-year-old former Formula 1 supremo flew into the Tires Aerodrome in Cascais from Switzerland on Monday, planning to take part in a clay pigeon shooting competition. Instead, he was met by four police officers and customs officials.

They wanted to talk about his gun.

Ecclestone said he was stopped, questioned for about an hour, and required to surrender the shotgun because he did not have the correct documents to import it into Portugal. He stressed that, despite reports to the contrary, he was not detained.

“I went to see the police and said, ‘What can I do for you?’ And they said, ‘We would like some information on this gun you brought in’,” Ecclestone told the Press Association, outlining how the exchange began.

The British businessman, who ran F1 for nearly four decades until 2017, explained that he had already transported the shotgun from England to Switzerland without difficulty. Familiarity bred confidence; he said he expected no issues on this trip because airport staff in Switzerland know him “very well”.

This time, the rules caught up with him. With no official paperwork to cover the weapon’s entry into Portugal, the authorities took the shotgun and logged the incident, but Ecclestone described the officers as “very helpful” and rejected any suggestion of a more serious confrontation.

The clay targets will have to wait. The gun is staying in Portugal.