Bernie Ecclestone is back in the headlines, and not for anything related to Formula 1. The 95-year-old was detained at Tires Airport near Lisbon, Portugal, on Monday after arriving by private jet from Switzerland with a shotgun for which he did not have the required documentation to carry into the country. Authorities later released him after resolving the matter.
Ecclestone has pushed back on reports characterizing the incident as a formal arrest, offering his own account of what unfolded at the airport in a series of interviews with British media.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the former F1 chief said he brought the shotgun from Switzerland to take part in clay-pigeon shooting in Portugal, an activity his wife, Fabiana Flosi, had made him aware of. He said he was unaware that additional documentation would be required to transport the firearm across borders.
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“I had a gun that I was bringing over from Switzerland to Portugal for clay-pigeon shooting. It’s as simple as that. I have guns at home there that are licensed,” he said. “They asked if I had a ‘blue book’, which is apparently the documentation you need, and I told them I never travel with documents like that, any documents at all, practically. They said they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours, we sorted it out, but it has been wall-to-wall aggravation.”
Speaking separately to the Press Association, Ecclestone said he had initially passed through customs before being approached by police, who questioned him about the shotgun and its paperwork. He was emphatic that the situation did not amount to a formal arrest. “No. The police were very helpful and doing all they could to stop us from having to do what we had to do,” he said. The firearm was surrendered to authorities in Lisbon while the documentation issue was resolved.
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For further context, Portugal has some of the strictest firearm legislation in Europe, and anyone transporting a weapon into the country, even for sporting purposes, is required to carry a European Firearms Pass, a document informally called a “blue book” issued by the national authority of their home country that identifies the weapon and confirms the holder’s right to possess it. This applies even to travelers arriving from Switzerland, which, while not an EU member state, is part of the Schengen Agreement and subject to similar cross-border firearm transfer requirements.
Ecclestone’s own admission that he does not typically travel with documentation of any kind suggests he was simply unaware the rules applied in Portugal the same way they would anywhere else. Failure to carry the required paperwork, regardless of whether the firearm is legally owned elsewhere, can result in detention by Portugal’s Public Security Police airport division. On Monday, it did.
Not the First Time for Bernie Ecclestone
Monday’s incident is not the first time the British business magnate has found himself in trouble over a firearm at an airport. Back in 2022, he was detained at Viracopos Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after police discovered a pistol in his luggage as he prepared to board a private jet to Switzerland. On that occasion, he paid bail of 6,060 Brazilian Reais and was allowed to leave after his gun was confiscated.
Now 95 and dividing his time between Switzerland and Portugal, Bernie Ecclestone remains one of the most recognizable names in motorsport history. Whether by design or accident, he also appears to have little difficulty making news.