NBC Sports to feature 19.5 hours of Monaco coverage, with race live on NBC - MotorSportsTalk

For the first time, Formula One’s famed Monaco Grand Prix will air live on network television Sunday, May 26 at 7:30 a.m. ET on NBC. NBC Sports Group will present a total of 19.5 hours of Monaco coverage from Thursday to Sunday, May 23-26, across NBC, NBC Sports Network and NBC Sports Live Extra. Race day, Sunday May 26, will begin with a live pre-race show at 7 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, “Mimosas from Monaco,” and conclude with F1 Extra, NBC Sports Network’s half-hour post-race show, live from Monaco after the race.

Coverage from Monaco also includes live practice, qualifying and GP2 races on NBC Sports Network. Practice will air live on Thursday, May 23, at 8 a.m. ET. Qualifying will air live on Saturday, May 25, at 8 a.m. ET. In addition, NBC Sports Network will air two GP2 races, F1’s developmental series, at 12 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 26.

NBC Sports Group’s Monaco Grand Prix Coverage (subject to change):

Date	Coverage	Network	Time (ET)
Thurs., May 23	Practice	NBCSN	8 a.m.
Fri., May 24	Practice Encore	NBCSN	1:30 a.m.
Fri., May 24	Practice Encore	NBCSN	11:30 p.m.
Sat., May 25	Qualifying	NBCSN	8 a.m.
Sat., May 25	Qualifying Encore	NBCSN	10:30 p.m.
Sun., May 26	GP2 Race 1	NBCSN	12 a.m.
Sun., May 26	Pre-Race Show	NBCSN	7 a.m.
Sun., May 26	Monaco Grand Prix	NBC	7:30 a.m.
Sun., May 26	F1 Extra	NBCSN	10 a.m.
Sun., May 26	Monaco Grand Prix Encore	NBCSN	10:30 a.m.
Sun., May 26	F1 Extra Encore	NBCSN	1 p.m.
Sun., May 26	GP2 Race 2	NBCSN	1:30 p.m.
Sun., May 26	Monaco Grand Prix Encore	NBCSN	10:30 p.m.

COMMENTATORS ON SITE: NBC Sports Group’s F1 announce booth will be on site to capture the unique glitz-and-glamour atmosphere of the Monaco Grand Prix. Leigh Diffey will serve as lead race announcer alongside veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, analyst and former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team Steve Matchett, and F1 insider and journalist Will Buxton.

ON MONACO:

Diffey: “Monaco is so special because people want to see something they can’t believe they are seeing, and that is the Monaco Grand Prix in a nutshell. It is an unbelievable spectacle. Cars that are way too fast for the track they are racing on, a track way too narrow for the speed of the cars. The element of danger is way too high for the modern day sport. But that is why Monaco is Monaco.”

Hobbs: “Monaco is one of the older races on the calendar and the circuit has changed very little over the nearly 90 years of running. Monaco is built around a fabulous natural harbor filled with the world’s most expensive yachts and a backdrop of gorgeous mountains. Throw in 20 or so multimillionaire drivers, team owners and top technicians in the most glamorous spot in the world, spiced with high danger content, and you end up with the most unique weekend of any sporting event in the world.”

ON THE RACE:

Diffey: “The form guide over the past three years screams Infiniti Red Bull Racing, but if you base it on the last Grand Prix everything points at Ferrari. With that being said, the Mercedes AMG Petronas team has shown incredible qualifying speed this year and qualifying well at Monaco is paramount.”

Hobbs: “This is the race all drivers and teams want to win. It has that extra something driven by its vintage location and crowd. It is a difficult race between very unforgiving walls, miles of guardrail, tightness of the turns and the narrow width of the road. It’s a tiring event for drivers and controlled aggression is key for a driver. Go fast, but keep off the walls.”

ON THE DRIVERS:

Diffey: “Over the last seven years there are only two drivers who have won more than once. Mark Webber has won two of the last three years and Fernando Alonso won back to back in 2006-07. Drivers who like Monaco always do well there and those guys are definitely in that group.”

Hobbs: “This year is proving to be very competitive. Team Ferrari is on a roll and Fernando Alonso, previous winner in Monaco, always goes well here. Red Bull and Mark Webber, two-time Monaco winner will go well – their car is suited to most tracks. Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus should shine here, and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes is fast every time he comes here.

NBC SPORTS DIGITAL & SOCIAL COVERAGE

F1 ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA: NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will live stream the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, May 26, as well as qualifying on Saturday, May 25, and practice on Thursday, May 23. A vast majority of coverage will be streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Coverage airing on:

NBC will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra;
NBC Sports Network will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs.

F1 ON MOTORSPORTSTALK: MotorSportsTalk (@MotorSportsTalk) on NBCSports.com brings racing fans up-to-the-minute news, video and information on Formula One™, IZOD IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and all other motorsports racing from around the world. The site also serves as the destination for all news, analysis and video from NBC and NBC Sports Network productions of F1 and IndyCar, including contributions from on-air commentators.

MotorSportsTalk’s content is provided by top racing journalists and expert analysts, including:

Keith Collantine (@KeithCollantine), editor and creator of the F1Fanatic blog;
Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) creator of the F1 site RichlandF1.com.

To explore the site, please visit MotorSportsTalk.com.nbcsports.com or www.NBCSports.com.

SOCIAL: Follow @MotorsportsTalk, @F1onNBCSports and @NBCSN on Twitter and “like” Facebook.com/NBC Sports for the most up-to-date news, videos and commentary about Formula One on NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network.

Commentator Twitter Chats – During the week of the Monaco race, F1 on NBC Sports commentators including @leighdiffey, @mrstevematchett, @mrdavidhobbs and @willbuxton will take part in various Twitter Chats allowing fans to get their questions answered from our very own experts.

INDIANAPOLIS – Few drivers in Indy 500 history have been as popular as Tony Kanaan.

Throughout his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that began with his first Indy 500 in 2002, the fans loved his aggressiveness on the track and his engaging personality with the fans.

The Brazilian always got the loudest cheers from the fans during driver introductions before the Indy 500.

Sunday’s 107^th Indianapolis 500 would be his last time to walk up the steps for driver introductions. Kanaan announced earlier this year that it would be his final race of his IndyCar career, but not the final race as a race driver.

He will continue to compete in stock cars in Brazil and in Tony Stewart’s summer series known as the “Superstar Racing Experience” – an IROC-type series that competes at legendary short tracks around the country beginning in June.

Kanaan was the extra driver at Arrow McLaren for this year’s Indy 500 joining NTT IndyCar Series regulars Pato O’Ward of Mexico, Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden, and Alexander Rossi of northern California.

He had a sporty ride, the No. 66 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that paid homage to McLaren’s first Indianapolis 500 victory by the late Mark Donohue for Team Penske in 1972.

Because Kanaan has meant so much to the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT IndyCar Series, the 2013 Indy 500 winner was honored before the start of the race with a special video.

It featured Kanaan sitting in the Grandstand A seats writing a love letter to the fans of this great event. Kanaan narrated the video, reciting the words in the letter and it finished with the driver putting it in an envelope and leaving it at the Yard of Bricks.

*Lauren Kanaan with daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Bruce Martin Photo).*

Many in the huge crowd of 330,000 fans watched the video on the large screens around the speedway. On the starting grid, Kanaan’s wife, Lauren, who bears a striking resemblance to actress Kate Beckinsale, watched with their four children.

Kanaan’s wife is an Indiana girl who was a high school basketball star in Cambridge City, Indiana.

Kanaan proposed to Lauren in 2010, and after a three-year engagement, they were married in 2013 – the year he won his only Indianapolis 500.

She has been Kanaan’s rock, and this was a moment for the family to share.

After receiving an ovation and the accolades from the crowd, Kanaan walked to his car on the starting grid and exchanged hugs with people who were important in his career.

One of those was Takuma Sato’s engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing, Eric Cowdin.

*Tony Kanaan shares a moment with former engineer Eric Cowdin (Bruce Martin Photo).*

Kanaan and Cowdin shared a longtime relationship dating all the way back to the Andretti Green Racing days when Kanaan was a series champion in 2004. This combination stayed together when Kanaan moved to KV Racing in 2011, then Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014-2018 followed by two years at AJ Foyt Racing.

Kanaan returned to run the four oval races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 in the No. 48 Honda that was shared with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

In 2022, Johnson ran the full IndyCar Series schedule, and Kanaan drove the No. 1 American Legion entry to a third-place finish in his only IndyCar race of the season.

Kanaan knew that 2023 would be his last Indy 500 and properly prepared himself mentally and emotionally for his long goodbye.

But one could sense the heartfelt love, gratitude, and most of all respect for this tenacious driver in the moments leading up to the start of the race.

*Tony Kanaan gets emotional during an interview after the Indy 500 (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).*

“The emotions are just there,” Kanaan said. “I cried 400 times. This guy came to hug me, and I made Rocket (IndyCar Technical Director Kevin Blanch) cry. I mean, that is something.

“Yeah, it was emotional.”

Kanaan started ninth and finished 18^th in a race that was very clean for the first two thirds of the race before ending in disjointed fashion with three red flags to stop the race over the final 15 laps.

“Yellows breed yellows and when you are talking about the Indianapolis 500 and a field that is so tough to pass, that happens,” Kanaan said. “It’s the Indy 500. Come on. We’ve got to leave it out there.

“Every red flag, everybody goes, I’m going to pass everybody. It’s tough to pass. It’s the toughest field, the tightest field we ever had here. It was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen.

“I wouldn’t want it any different. We left it all out there. Everybody that was out left it out.”

At one point in the second half of the race, Kanaan passed Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin by driving through the grass on the backstretch.

“That was OK, right?” Kanaan said. “That is one thing I have not done in 22 years here. Even (team owner) Sam Schmidt came to me and said, ‘That was a good one.’

“That was a farewell move.”

‘@IMS gave @TonyKanaan a new job… pic.twitter.com/tRPZhzJcyH

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 31, 2023

On the final lap, it was Kanaan battling his boyhood friend from Brazil, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, for a mid-pack finish.

“Helio and I battling for 15th and 16th on the last lap like we’re going for the lead,” Kanaan said. “It was like, who’s playing pranks with us.

“We both went side by side on the backstretch after the checker and we saluted with each other, and I just told him actually I dropped a tear because of that, and he said, ‘I did, too.’

“We went side by side like twice. A lot of memories came to my mind, and I even said how ironic it is that we started it together and I get to battle him on the last lap of my last race.

*Tony Kanaan is embraced by his wife, Lauren, after finishing 16th in the 107th Indianapolis 500 ((Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).*

“It’s pretty neat. It’s a pretty cool story. He’s a great friend. My reference, a guy that I love and hate a lot throughout my career, and like he just told me — I was coming up here and he just said, who am I going to look on the time sheet when I come into the pits now, because we always said that it didn’t matter if I was — if I was 22nd and he was 23rd, my day was okay. And vice versa.

“It was a good day for me, man. What can I say? We cried on the grid.

“Not the result that we wanted. I went really aggressive on the downforce to start the race. It was wrong. Then I added downforce towards the end of the race, and it was wrong. It was just one of those days.”

After the race was over, Kanaan drove his No. 66 Honda back to the Arrow McLaren pit area and climbed out of the car to cheers of the fans that could see him. Others were focused on Josef Newgarden’s wild celebration after the Team Penske driver had won his first Indianapolis 500.

There were no tears, though, only smiles from Kanaan who closes an IndyCar career with 389 starts, 17 wins including the 2013 Indianapolis 500, 79 podiums, 13 poles, and 4,077 laps led in a 26-year career.

Kanaan came, he raced, and he raced hard.

“That’s what we did, we raced as hard as we could,” Kanaan told NBC Sports.com. “It wasn’t enough.

“The win was the only thing that mattered. If we were second or 16^th, we were going to celebrate regardless.

“In a way, being 16^th will stop people wondering if I’m going to come back.

“I’m ready to go. I’m ready to enjoy the time with my family, with my team and doing other things as well.”

Kanaan’s face will forever be part of the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the Indianapolis 500.

“I won one and that is there, and it will always be there,” Kanaan said. “It was an awesome day.

“The way this crowd made me feel was unbelievable. I don’t regret a bit.”

*Tony Kanaan hugs his son Max before the Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar/USA TODAY Sports Images Network).*

Kanaan actually announced the 2020 Indianapolis 500 would be TK’s last ride because he wanted to say goodbye to the fans.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit, the Indianapolis 500 was moved from Memorial Day Weekend to August 23 and because of COVID restrictions, fans were not allowed to attend the Indianapolis 500.

Three years later, Kanaan was finally able to say goodbye to this fans that were part of the largest crowd to see the Indianapolis 500 since the sold-out gathering for 350,000 that attended the 100^th running in 2016.

“That’s it, that’s what I wanted, and I got what I wanted,” Kanaan said. “This moment was so special; I don’t want to ever spoil it again.

*Tony Kanaan kisses his daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY Sports Images Network).*

“We’ve been building and growing this series as much as we can. I’m really glad and proud that I was able to be part of building something big and this year’s race was one of the biggest ones.”

Kanaan walked off pit lane and rejoined his family. He will always be part of the glorious history of the Indianapolis 500 and fans will be talking about Tony Kanaan years from now, not by what he did, but the way he did it.

“This is what it is all about,” Kanaan said on pit lane. “Having kids, be a good person. Even if you don’t win, it’s fine if you don’t, as long as you make a difference.

“Hopefully, I made a difference in this sport.

“I will always be an IndyCar driver. I will always be an Indy 500 winner and I will always make people aware of IndyCar in the way it deserves.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500