Bernie Ecclestone will not charge Bahrain for cancelling Grand Prix

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone will not be charging the organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix a penny for calling off the event.

The ongoing political unrest in the Gulf kingdom resulted in the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, informing Ecclestone on Monday that they would be unable to stage the March 13 race.

It was widely believed Bahrain would still have to pay the annual staging fee of £25million, but Ecclestone has confirmed that will not be the case.

"The fee that is normally being paid for the event is not being paid," Ecclestone told The Daily Telegraph.

"I am not charging them for a race they are not getting. Whether they are covered by their insurers for loss of revenues, ticket sales etc, I am not sure.

"But if anything is force majeure then that (the political unrest) is.

"It is similar to if an earthquake had struck - no-one could have foreseen that a month ago."

Ecclestone has also stated that if peace returns to Bahrain, then he will try his best to fit it into the calendar later this year.

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