Italian Grand Prix set to cap European season this week on NBCSN

By Aug 29, 2017, 2:13 PM EDT
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The Italian Grand Prix concludes Formula 1’s European season this weekend on NBCSN, as the second leg of a back-to-back trip for the series after last week’s Belgian Grand Prix.

NBCSN will feature live coverage for free practice two, qualifying and the race this weekend at the traditional European race time slots of 8 a.m. ET both Friday and Saturday for practice and qualifying, and a full hour of pre-race coverage Sunday for the race.

Usual free practice one and three coverage airs live exclusively on the NBC Sports App, which streams all sessions.

The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the spiritual home of F1, and the official home for Ferrari’s fan base – the tifosi – where nothing less than victory will do.

Ferrari has won the Italian Grand Prix 19 times, but hasn’t won there since 2010 when Fernando Alonso did so in his first year with the team. That’s been Ferrari’s lone win in the last decade at Monza since Michael Schumacher’s emotional, memorable 2006 win when he announced his first retirement from the sport the same weekend.

Sebastian Vettel’s won at Monza three times, in 2008 with Toro Rosso in both his and the team’s first career victory, then with Red Bull in 2011 and 2013. With Ferrari, Vettel finished second in 2015 and third last year.

Mercedes has won the last three races at Monza with Nico Rosberg winning last year and Lewis Hamilton winning in 2014 and 2015. Hamilton also has a 2012 Monza win with McLaren on his resume.

A pole for Hamilton this weekend would be his 69th in his career, and set the all-time mark, breaking a tie with Schumacher.

A win for Hamilton would see him become the first driver to win back-to-back races in the 13th round of the season and would, at worse, see him move into a tie with Vettel for the championship lead. Vettel leads Hamilton by seven points, 220-213, the same gap as the difference between first and second in a single race (25 to 18 points).

Alonso, twice a winner at Monza as he also won in 2007 with McLaren, is the only other active Italian Grand Prix winner in the field. Kimi Raikkonen has never won at Monza for Ferrari.

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

  • Practice 1: Friday, Sept. 1, 4 a.m.-5:30 a.m. ET (Story; Watch replay)
  • Practice 2: Friday, Sept. 1, 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. ET (Story; Watch replay)
  • Practice 2 (Replay): Saturday, Sept. 2, 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Practice 3: Saturday, Sept. 2, 5 a.m.-6 a.m. ET (Watch replay)
  • Qualifying: Saturday, Sept. 2, 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. ET (Watch replay)
  • Qualifying (Replay): Sunday, Sept. 3, 1:30 a.m.-3 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Pre-Race: Sunday, Sept. 3, 7 a.m.-8 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Race: Sunday, Sept. 3, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. ET (Full story; Watch replay)
  • Post-Race: Sunday, Sept. 3, 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN)
  • Formula 2: Sunday, Sept. 3, 6 a.m.-7 a.m. ET (Watch replay)

The next race is the Singapore Grand Prix, on September 17.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”