F1’s crown jewel, Monaco GP, comes to NBC next week

By May 16, 2017, 9:13 AM EDT
F1 Grand Prix of Monaco
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For the fifth consecutive year, NBC will air the Monaco Grand Prix, the crown jewel of the Formula 1 schedule as a part of the NBC Sports Group’s F1 coverage.

The race itself airs on NBC, Sunday, May 28, from 7:30 to 8 a.m. for pre-race coverage, before race coverage comes from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Additional pre-race coverage is from 7 to 7:30 a.m. on NBCSN, and post-race coverage is then from 10 to 10:30 a.m. on NBCSN.

Qualifying is on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET on NBCSN, and free practice two is Thursday – not Friday – also at 8 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

You can watch all the coverage online by clicking here, or on the NBC Sports app.

It’s been a fascinating start to the season, as Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have two wins apiece in the first five races. Vettel only has a six-point lead on Hamilton (104-98) in the championship, after Hamilton captured a decisive win last weekend in the Spanish Grand Prix.

At Monaco, Hamilton has two wins (2008, 2016) and Vettel has one (2011) – and on all three instances, their Monaco win came in a year where they won the World Championship.

Beyond these two, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo would be in search of their first Monaco wins for Mercedes and Red Bull, respectively. Bottas steps into a seat where Nico Rosberg won Monaco three years in a row from 2013 to 2015, while Ricciardo looks to atone from a frustrating near miss last year, when he could have won had it not been for a bad pit stop, and finished a hard-luck second.

Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen are also looking for bounce back weekends, after the two got taken out in a first lap incident with Bottas last time out at Spain. Raikkonen has won Monaco once before (2005 with McLaren) while Verstappen has crashed out of Monaco on both occasions he’s been here thus far.

One other driver to watch, and a leading light of the midfield, is Force India’s Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver has scored 15 consecutive points finishes, leading the field by a significant margin, and is fresh off a fourth place at Spain. He finished third in Monaco last year.

Jenson Button also makes a one-race comeback to Formula 1, filling in for Fernando Alonso at McLaren, as Alonso races at the 101st Indianapolis 500.

As noted above, all sessions will be broadcast on NBC, NBCSN or via the NBC Sports App. Leigh Diffey, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett are on the call with Will Buxton reporting from the pits and paddock.

Here’s the schedule, with stream links and TV network if applicable:

  • Practice 1: Thursday, May 25, 4 a.m.-5:30 a.m. ET (Story; Full replay)
  • Practice 2: Thursday, May 25, 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. ET (Story; Full replay)
  • Practice 2 (Replay): Saturday, May 27, 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Practice 3: Saturday, May 27, 5 a.m.-6 a.m. ET (Story; Full replay)
  • Qualifying: Saturday, May 27, 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. ET  (Full replay)
  • Qualifying (Replay): Sunday, May 28, 1 a.m.-2:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Pre-Race 1: Sunday, May 28, 7 a.m.-7:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN; Stream link)
  • Pre-Race 2: Sunday, May 28, 7:30 a.m.-8 a.m. ET (NBC; Stream link)
  • Race: Sunday, May 28, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. ET (Story; Full replay)
  • Post-Race, Sunday, May 28, 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN; Stream link)
  • Race (Replay): Sunday, May 28, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Race (Replay); Sunday, May 28, 10 p.m.-12 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Race (Replay): Monday, May 29, 3 p.m.-5 p.m. ET (NBCSN)

Formula 2 coverage also airs from Monaco. Those times are below:

  • Friday Race 1: Friday, May 26, 5:30 a.m.-6:35 a.m. ET (Watch replay)
  • Saturday Race 2: Saturday, May 27, 10:10 a.m.-11 am. ET (Watch replay)
  • Friday Race 1 (Replay), Saturday, May 27, 12 p.m.-1 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Saturday Race 2 (Replay), Sunday, May 28, 6 a.m.-7 a.m. ET (NBCSN)

The next race is the Canadian Grand Prix, on June 11.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”