Former F1 boss Ecclestone stopped in Portugal over shotgun on private jet

A shotgun without documents, a missing blue book, and one of the biggest powers in Formula One history stood at Tires airfield near Cascais. Bernie Ecclestone, 95, had a Monday unlike the life he used to know: police stopped him for bringing a shotgun into Portugal on his private jet without the required import papers. Reuters quoted Ecclestone by telephone from Portugal as saying he brought the gun from Switzerland, where he normally uses it for clay pigeon shooting, to take part in a clay pigeon exhibition event in Portugal over the weekend. The problem was that he did not have the “blue book” needed to bring the gun into the country legally. Ecclestone landed with his wife Fabiana Flosi, the FIA vice president for sport, at Tires airfield. He said he passed through customs, but police then noticed the shotgun and asked for documentation. As he does not speak Portuguese, Ecclestone described the whole experience as “unnecessary aggravation”. The case ended quickly with the weapon being handed over. Fabiana Flosi, a Brazilian, later went to Lisbon with a customs official and surrendered the shotgun to the authorities. Ecclestone signed the papers they required. “So now we have gone through all this and the people in Lisbon have got the gun. I signed some documents as they wanted,” he said. Portuguese media first reported the incident, quoting police sources saying the shotgun was found during a routine check. There was no arrest and no criminal charge. But the story drew attention because of the central figure: the former racer who ran the commercial side of Formula One for about 40 years until he was ousted in 2026. He owns a home in the adjoining resort area. For sports observers, the situation brought back a similar incident in Brazil in 2026. Ecclestone was briefly detained then for carrying a small handgun while boarding a private plane to Switzerland. He acknowledged owning the gun but said he did not know it was in his luggage. He dismissed that episode as “silly” and “tiny”. The words “tiny” and “unnecessary” unintentionally exposed the distance between privilege and legal reality. For decades, Ecclestone was used to making decisions, being served and believing that paperwork rules applied to other people. But at a security checkpoint, things do not work according to sporting hierarchies. A shotgun without a “blue book” is an unlicensed shotgun, no matter what power its owner once held. Fans may remember Ecclestone for his huge television contracts and the tough negotiations that made drivers and teams respect him. But on this Monday in Portugal, he was stopped not by a tactical mistake or a commercial rivalry, but by a sporting shotgun and a missing piece of paper. That detail contains a simple sporting truth: on the track, victory belongs to the first one to finish; away from the track, victory belongs to those who follow the rules. The shotgun is now in the hands of Lisbon police. Ecclestone’s wife handled the process for him. And the 95-year-old former F1 boss, after an unexpected encounter with regulations, may add another memory to his collection: once again, sport reminded him that even the most powerful people must land at the right gate.