Bernie Ecclestone Addresses Shotgun Incident in Portugal

Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed reports that he was arrested in Portugal after arriving with a shotgun, insisting the incident was a paperwork issue rather than a criminal one.

The 95-year-old former Formula 1 supremo said he was stopped by four police officers and customs staff at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais on Monday after flying in from Switzerland with a shotgun he intended to use in a clay pigeon shooting competition.

According to Ecclestone, officials asked him about the firearm and requested documentation for its entry into the country. He admitted he did not have the correct import papers and said he ultimately had to surrender the gun.

“I was going to take part in a clay pigeon shooting competition in Portugal,” Ecclestone said, explaining that he approached the officers on arrival. “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 stressed that he had previously transported the same shotgun from England to Switzerland without issue and expected the trip to Portugal to be just as straightforward, noting that airport officials there know him “very well”.

This time, the trip stalled on the tarmac. He was questioned for around an hour, then asked to hand over the weapon because he lacked the official documents required to bring it into Portugal.

Ecclestone, who ran Formula 1 for nearly four decades until 2017, rejected any suggestion that he had been detained, describing the Portuguese police as “very helpful” and framing the episode as a regulatory formality rather than a dramatic airport arrest.