Motor racing-Former F1 supremo Ecclestone stopped in Portugal over shotgun on private jet

Former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone was stopped at a Portuguese airport on Monday after police found that he brought a shotgun into the country on his private jet without the required documentation. The 95-year-old told Reuters from Portugal that he was carrying the gun from Switzerland for a clay pigeon shooting event but lacked the “blue book” needed to import it. Ecclestone said he landed with his wife Fabiana—vice-president for sport at Formula One’s governing body—at Tires airfield near Cascais, outside Lisbon. Portuguese newspapers reported the discovery during a routine check. Ecclestone’s wife went to Lisbon with a customs official to surrender the weapon. The episode mirrors a prior firearms issue in Brazil in 2022, when he said he was unaware the gun was in his luggage.