F1 broadcaster to skip Vietnam over coronavirus
Feb.20 - F1 may be pressing ahead with the inaugural Vietnam GP, but the German broadcaster RTL will not be joining the rest of the Formula 1 world in Hanoi.
One day after race organisers said the coronavirus crisis would not cause the postponement or cancellation of the April 5 event, RTL has taken its own action.
"We have a high level of responsibility to our employees," RTL sports boss Manfred Loppe said.
"After careful examination, we believe that in reporting from Hanoi, the risks to their health appear to be too great," he added.
Instead, Loppe said the usual RTL team will instead report from a studio in Cologne.
"We came to this decision after querying numerous information points, and the bottom line is that we did not receive what we considered to be a reliable assessment of the situation on site," he said.
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Kudos RTL. Solid German logic.
If F1 shows up, the media will also show. The current flack is puffery.
Reye, your comments are excellent, but 75000+ infections and 2000+ deaths within a stones throw of Hanoi is not puffery. Shanghai is 850 km from Wuhan, Hanoi is only 1350 km distant. Not much difference. If the Vietnam race goes forward, it will be an attendance disaster.
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