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Williams 'would've missed' Bahrain

Williams chairman Adam Parr says his team was unlikely to attend the Bahrain Grand Prix, had it not been cancelled earlier this week

Unrest in the country had called the event into doubt and it was eventually postponed on Monday, but several teams have indicated that they would not have travelled even if it had gone ahead.

"The decision was right by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and if for whatever conceivable reason that hadn't been the decision, I don't think we would have [gone]," Parr told AUTOSPORT.

"Had the Bahrain Grand Prix gone ahead, I don't think we, and in fact I suspect even all the teams, would have gone.

"It was quite apparent to everybody that we were simply going to make the situation there worse, because we would have been a focal point for demonstrations and unrest. There would have been all the media associated with us there, and therefore I think it would have just been incendiary."

Both Formula 1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone and the Bahrain GP organisers have indicated their desire for the event to return to the schedule as soon as possible.

Parr says there will be an attempt to run the race later this season, though the political situation in the country will remain a deciding factor, as well as the climate in the Gulf.

"I think everyone is going to try really hard to put it back on the schedule, but I am not sure about it with the weather," Parr added. "Obviously that takes out the summer months, then it's a bit hectic with all the flyaways we've got.

"I'm sure everyone is going to try really hard to find a new date, assuming of course that everything has settled down. But I am not sure at the moment."

The headline has been changed, AUTOSPORT would like to make clear that Adam Parr did not say that Williams would have 'boycotted' the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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