Formula 1 relaxes pit lane ban on television cameramen & reporters

Formula 1 has relaxed its total ban on television reporters and cameramen reporting from the pit lane.

An outright ban throughout the weekend was issued after a cameraman was injured during the German Grand Prix.

But for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, each live broadcaster will be allowed one reporter and one cameraman in the pit lane during practice.
Play media

Cameraman hurt by flying wheel

Only cameramen from official broadcaster FOM are permitted during qualifying and the actual race.

However, they must stay on the pit wall.

Further restrictions have also been imposed on written journalists and photographers, whose passes are issued by governing body the FIA rather than FOM, which runs broadcasting access.

After the German race earlier this month, photographers and reporters were banned from the pit lane during qualifying and race, other than "approved media", who would be allowed on the pit wall.

But in Hungary an FIA statement said a total of 25 passes for journalists and photographers would be issued for each practice session.

What do you guys think of the decision to ban all television cameramen and reporters and then to do a total u-turn?

I think they felt to begin with they needed to act and make a clear statement about how the prioritise safety above all else, but then slowly began to realise that this type of incident happens very rarely. And for the pure spectacle of the race, camera crews in the pitlanes during all sessions is probably a requirement, even if they are limited to the pitwall.