General
Former F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone denies being arrested in Brazil
It was Bernie Ecclestone who made headlines yesterday as he was allegedly arrested for carrying an illegal firearm in his luggage when boarding a private plane in Brazil on Wednesday. The Sao Paulo state security office did confirm with Reuters that a businessman had been arrested for possession of a firearm.
Bernie's "Silly tiny little incident"
In a phone call with Reuters from Portgual, it was Ecclestone that claims it was "a silly, tiny little incident" and that he was "never arrested". Although it was the former owner that also confirmed he had to pay 6060 reais (£1,015) bail, before being allowed to leave the country. This caused further issues for the 91-year-old as he claimed the police wanted it in local currency, which he didn't have any on him.
Ecclestone is in good spirits
The Brit also claims that the firearm found in his luggage had no ammunition in it, and had never been used. "“It was never going to be shot, it never had any bullets so I never bothered to register it. I didn’t know you had to,”. He then joked during the conversation with Reuters that "I haven’t had any publicity lately and I thought I ought to do something to get some,”.
Ecclestone admits he owns the gun in order to act as a deterrent and "to muck around with it if people came to visit me or something, we would joke around,", The former boss says he brought it off an F1 tyre man or engineer in Brazil years ago and that the only reason it was in the luggage was that he forgot it in his shirt pocket.
Ecclestone is now in Portugal with his family after leaving Brazil Thursday morning.