Bernie Ecclestone said he was stopped by police at an airport in Portugal for bringing a shotgun into the country he intended to use in a clay pigeon shooting competition.
The 95-year-old former Formula 1 boss told the Press Association that he had to "surrender" the weapon because he did not have the correct documents - but denied he was arrested.
The incident took place on Monday after Ecclestone landed in Cascais -- about 20 miles outside of Lisbon -- on a flight from Switzerland.
Ecclestone, who ruled F1 for four decades before he was deposed in 2017, said he spoke to customs officers and "four police" officers for "about an hour."
Explaining the events, Ecclestone told PA: "I was going to take part in Portugal in a clay pigeon shooting competition, which I only knew about a few days ago because Fabiana [his wife] met someone when she was coming back from Brazil to Portugal. He said he was entering into a clay pigeon competition.
"So she called me and said, 'There is something here you should go and look at. Why don't you turn up and join?' And I said, 'Well, that wouldn't be a bad idea'.
"As I have got guns already in Switzerland, which have been imported properly, because we do a bit of clay pigeon shooting there, I brought the gun in with me.
"I went through customs and the people know me very well. They said, 'Anything to declare?' I said, 'No, nothing really, just all the usual personal things.'
"So I walked out and, as I got out, one of my people with me said, 'The police have asked if you would go and see them'.
"I went to see the police and said, 'What can I do for you?' And they said, 'We would like some information on this gun you brought in.'
"I didn't even unzip the case. I said, 'Well, it is a shotgun and this is the reason.' And they asked where is the blue book for the gun?
And I said, 'I don't know, I have never heard about a blue book in my life.'
"They said, 'Yes, well anyone with these guns should always have the book, it is like a passport. Incidentally, I want to look at your passport, too,' which they took.
"I said, 'I bought the gun in England and took it into Switzerland through all the normal channels.' And they said, 'Where is the blue book?'
And I said, 'I just told you, I don't know about the blue book.'
"There were about four police guys and they said, 'What you have done is try to import a gun into the country.' I said, 'I have not tried to do that. I have come through customs, and here I am with you,' and they were like, 'It is a gun and we need all the particulars for the gun, and I can I have a look at your passport, and we need the blue book for the gun.'
"So all this nonsense went on. We went back to the customs, and the police had complained to customs, and the customs officer said, 'You need to surrender the gun here in Lisbon and then we will look at it there, and do you want to import it? And if so, you will have to pay duty on it and ask for a temporary import, and we will deal with it like that.' So I said, 'Well we'd better do that.'"
Responding to reports he had been arrested, Ecclestone replied: "No. The police were very helpful and doing all they could to stop us from having to do what we had to do."
Four years ago, Ecclestone had a handgun on him before he boarded a flight in Sao Paulo. He was stopped by police and had to pay 6,000 Brazilian reals (£1,000/$1,170), to the local authorities. The gun was confiscated.
