A retired motorsports executive is in trouble in South America over what was found in his luggage: a firearm.
Reuters reported citing local police in Brazil that authorities there arrested former Formula 1 head Bernie Ecclestone after security screeners found an undocumented pistol in his luggage as he was preparing to board a private airplane for a flight to Switzerland. The gun was a .32 caliber LW Seecamp. According to authorities, Eccelstone acknowledged the gun was his, but claimed he was unaware it was in his luggage. He paid bail and was allowed to leave the country.
Ecclestone, 91, according to Reuters, is married to a Brazilian native and both attended events in Brazil this month.
Formula 1 is the world’s pre-eminent Grand Prix motorsports series and has seen its popularity rise exponentially in the United States in recent years, especially among younger fans, due to the popularity of a Netflix show focusing on the series. F1 recently held a race in Miami and is slated to hold a second United States race later this year in Austin, TX, with plans for a third U.S.-based race in the coming years, in Las Vegas.