A recent incident at a Portuguese airfield near Lisbon has put former Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone back in the spotlight, as the 95-year-old motorsport magnate was briefly taken into custody on Monday for carrying an unlicensed firearm. The episode unfolded when Ecclestone landed at Tires Airport, where personnel from Portugal’s Public Security Police airport division discovered a shotgun in his belongings that he did not hold the required legal permit for.
In comments given to British newspaper the Daily Mail following his release, Ecclestone acknowledged he had brought the weapon with him from his Swiss residence, saying he planned to use it for pigeon shooting. When asked about the required permit documentation — what he described as a “blue book” — Ecclestone told officers he rarely travels with that type of paperwork, or most official documents in general. “They said they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours we sorted it out, but it has been wall-to-wall aggravation,” he told the outlet.
Officials confirmed Ecclestone was released from custody several hours after he was detained. The motorsport figure, who splits his time between homes in Switzerland and Portugal, is no stranger to airport weapons-related incidents. Back in May 2022, he was detained at Brazil’s Viracopos Airport after law enforcement found a .32-caliber pistol in his carry-on. That case resulted only in a fine, with no further legal action taken against Ecclestone after the incident.
A towering figure in Formula 1 history, Ecclestone first secured marketing and television rights to the global racing series in the late 1970s, growing F1 from a niche motorsport into a billion-dollar global entertainment brand. He officially took the reins as F1’s chief executive in 1987, a role he held for 30 years until selling his controlling stake and stepping down in 2017. Though he is no longer in charge of the series, the British business magnate still regularly attends Grands Prix as a spectator and honorary figure.