The NBC Sports Group will present its most extensive and comprehensive motorsports coverage ever in 2013, with more than 200 programming hours of Formula One races, practices, qualifying, pre- and post-race studio shows, and behind-the-scenes programs. Coverage will air across NBC, NBC Sports Network, and NBC Sports Live Extra, the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platform, via TV Everywhere. Additionally, two F1 races will air on CNBC, NBCUniversal’s business channel.
Formula One, which makes its NBC Sports Group debut this week on NBC Sports Network with the Rolex Australian Grand Prix, will air four races live on NBC, 13 on NBC Sports Network, and two on CNBC. The famed Monaco Grand Prix will air live on broadcast television at 7:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26 on NBC.
Programming for both open-wheel circuits will include significant shoulder content that is consistent with their unique brands. In addition, NBC Sports Digital will dedicate more motorsports coverage than ever. It will cover the entire racing industry with the recently launched MotorSportsTalk on NBCSports.com, and, later this year, it will live stream the circuit on NBC Sports Live Extra, via TV Everywhere.
The 2013 Formula One World Championship schedule includes all 19 races in 19 countries from March through November, including 13 on NBC Sports Network, four on NBC and two on CNBC.
COMMENTATORS: As previously announced, NBC Sports Group’s F1 booth will feature lead announcer Leigh Diffey, who will call both F1 and the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, and analyst Steve Matchett, a former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team, including two years with seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher.
Rounding out the team is Will Buxton, an F1 insider and journalist, who will serve as the team’s on-site reporter. Respected by fans and critics alike, Diffey, Hobbs, Matchett and Buxton bring continuity to each telecast, as all four worked together for several years previously on SPEED’s coverage of the circuit.
ON-SITE: It is estimated that Buxton will travel more than 115,000 miles this season while covering all 19 races in 19 countries.
MIMOSAS FROM MONACO: Sunday, May 26 can arguably be called ‘the biggest day in racing’ as it features three of sport’s most famous races from three different circuits — the Monaco Grand Prix (Formula One), the Indy 500 (IndyCar) and the Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR).
This year, the day will begin with live coverage of the famed Monaco Grand Prix on broadcast television when NBC airs the race at 7:30 a.m. ET. The entire NBC Sports F1 studio team will join Buxton on site to capture the unique glitz-and-glamor atmosphere of the Monaco Grand Prix.
NBC GRANDS PRIX: NBC will provide F1 with unprecedented exposure this year as it airs four races in 2013. In addition to Monaco, races scheduled to air on NBC are the Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal) on Sunday, June 9, the United States Grand Prix (Austin, Texas) on Sunday, November 17, and the final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, Nov 24. The NBC Sports F1 studio team will also be on site for live coverage of the Montreal and Austin races.
Due to scheduling conflicts, CNBC, NBCUniversal’s fully-distributed business channel, will air the Grands Prix from the United Kingdom and Germany.
F1 EXTRA: NBC Sports Network’s post-race show, F1 Extra, will air live after every NBC Sports Network and CNBC race, as well as the Monaco NBC race. Post-race coverage for Canada, USA and Brazil will air on NBC. The 30-minute wrap-up show will be handled by the F1 team of Diffey, Hobbs, Matchett and Buxton.
F1 36: Three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel will be the first driver profiled in the first-ever episode of F1 36, airing Friday, March 29 at 7 p.m. ET. F1 36 is the latest in the NBC Sports Group’s original behind-the-scenes 36 series, which gives viewers an all-access pass into the life of world-class athletes. For each episode, cameras will follow a F1 driver for 36 hours, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their on- and off-track activities. The all-access 36 series, which is produced by IMS Productions, also includes NHL 36, Fight Night 36, IndyCar 36 and MLS 36.
PRACTICE, QUALIFYING & RE-AIRS: NBC Sports Network will offer extensive coverage of F1 practice and qualifying throughout the season. The network will also offer a re-air of the race, often in the early afternoon, allowing viewers to enjoy coverage during a more traditional sports-viewing time period.
ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: The first race of the season will air live from Australia on Sunday, March 17 on NBC Sports Network at 1:30 a.m. ET. The race will re-air at 1 p.m. ET. F1 action gets underway Friday, March 15 at 12 a.m. ET with the first practice session.
Following is this week’s coverage schedule for the Rolex Australian Grand Prix on NBC Sports Network:
| Date | Program | Time | Network |
| Friday, March 15 | Practice #1 | Midnight | NBC Sports Network |
| Friday, March 15 | Practice #2 | 1:30 a.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sat., March 16 | Qualifying | 2 a.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sat., March 16 | Qualifying Re-Air | 1:30 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sunday, March 17 | Australian Grand Prix | 1:30 a.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sunday, March 17 | F1 Extra | 4 a.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sunday, March 17 | Race Re-Air | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
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More practice times for the entire season can be found here.
2013 FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (Subject to change, all times ET):
| Date | Grand Prix | Time | Re-Air (NBCSN) | Network |
| Sun., March 17 | Australia | 1:30 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., March 24 | Malaysia | 3:30 a.m. | 3 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., April 14 | China | 2:30 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., April 21 | Bahrain | 7:30 a.m. | Noon | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., May 12 | Spain | 7:30 a.m. | 2 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., May 26 | Monaco | 7:30 a.m. | 10:30 a.m. | NBC |
| Sun., June 9 | Canada | 2 p.m. | 7 p.m. | NBC |
| Sun., June 30 | United Kingdom | 7:30 a.m. | Noon | CNBC |
| Sun., July 7 | Germany | 7:30 a.m. | Noon | CNBC |
| Sun., July 28 | Hungary | 7:30 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Aug. 25 | Belgium | 7:30 a.m. | Midnight | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Sept. 8 | Italy | 7:30 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Sept. 22 | Singapore | 7:30 a.m. | 1:30 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Oct. 6 | Korea | 1:30 a.m. | 4 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Oct. 13 | Japan | 1:30 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Oct. 27 | India | 5:00 a.m. | 1 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Nov. 3 | Abu Dhabi | 7:30 a.m. | 6 p.m. | NBC Sports Network |
| Sun., Nov. 17 | USA (Austin) | 1 p.m. | 6 p.m. | NBC |
| Sun., Nov. 24 | Brazil | 11 a.m. | 4:30 p.m. | NBC |
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- sennathebest - May 18, 2013 at 7:14 AM
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Your coverage is pathetic.
Transmission not synch with audio (please don’t blame world feed, you have the technology ), put Will Buxton as main commentator and get rid of Leigh!!
Send the other commentators to do the coverage live as it does make a difference. If. You commit to do this coverage then get serious about it.
Last coverage was a disaster (Spain). Huge 5 car scrap for top 10 position and you cut to say Maldonado was getting not the pits… And cutting Steve on the action, how ignorant.
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- lflane333 - May 24, 2013 at 8:44 AM
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This is the first year since before 2000 that I have lost viewing interest in Formula One due to the messed up schedule of rebroadcast that NBC Sports has employed. NBC is for talk shows and comedies, not global racing organizations.
Broadcast the races LIVE like SPEED did. NBC may deliver F1 to some new viewers that will think it is some sort of Indy car racing (as I hear often from my non motor sport friends). Usually they are flipping the channels during an afternoon of ‘ball sports’. I truly believe the serious fans will not tune in to an abbreviated rebroadcast. Might as well find someone who will stream it live from another country.
Bad move for die hard fans in my opinion, but like any global corporation, F1 is really all about the money.
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- capvid86 - May 28, 2013 at 11:32 PM
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Unbelievable disappointment in the NBC-SN Monaco F1 coverage!!!!
Local Comcast cable TV guide showed NBC-SN coverage at 10:30am Sunday, which was the same as the listing on the network’s website,
No mention of a live broadcast prior to the re-air at 10:30am on that network.
Yes, the race aired live on local NBC affiliate, but my DVR was set for the 10:30 re-air.
Some idiot decides to show the race live on both networks and the race runs long.
Same idiot must have decided that 10:30am slot was suitable to re-air a street race that would likely run long in the first place.
So when my family sits down Sunday night and starts recorded F1 show, we are greeted with finishers on the podium and race is spoiled for everyone.
Since the re-air race starts late, he recording doesn’t cover the last half of the race.
So I set DVR to record next re-air at 10:30pm.
Guess what?
No F1 race recorded at that time slot, just some other crap on the network until an hour or so in when the Indy 500 Festival Parade show comes on.
Well at least I captured that, since it wasn’t on (pre-empted by last half of “Senna”) when I tried to record it on Saturday.
Bottom line is that both Sunday listings for the race on NBC-SN were wrong and my family ended up not even getting to see the last half of the race, even after having the finish spoiled from the very start.
NBC-SN needs to go back to being an all-soccer network and leave motorsports for a professional (Speed) network to cover.
Pathetic.
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- raycernorriski - May 31, 2013 at 8:47 PM
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You, NBC ET AL, are not the worst YET, but the season is young and between not knowing the difference between a parade in indy and a F1 race in Monaco will soon get you there. And with the harassment from world post to the point of getting really P^&)(*& SSED off I am not sure what to expect next but I am totally ready to be disappointed for the rest of the season. This is as bad as when we had to endure several F1 races in the middle of the season with some channels that knew that interrupting the race to tell us about some baseball game !!!! IF I wanted to watch freaken baseball or hockey or tennis or indy cars I WOULD WATCH THEM AND NOT BE TRYING TO ENJOY A FORMULA 1 RACE!!!! I hope you do get it, I reiterate, I watch f1 races, and do not care about all of the other things that you think I may be interested in … I AM NOT INTERESTED IN THEM. Thanks, RnR
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- raycernorriski - May 31, 2013 at 9:11 PM
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OOOOOOOOOOOh, NO tell me it is not true…. Belgium race will be broadcast at midnite!!!! 17 hours after the race was run in Belgium … not sure of the times on your tv schedule … Spa Francorchamps is usually one of the very best races of the season and YOU, nbc, and everybody else will be reporting the winner about a krillion times during the day to spoil it for all of us…. someone in nbc just does not like f1 and I can not for the life of me figure out why you would take on this series and than abuse it and the viewers…. I am going to hate you forever if you screw up this f1 season the way you are headed….. rnr
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- abartleson - Jun 9, 2013 at 8:31 PM
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What happened to Circuit Gilles Viilenous? Now it’s Automobile Club de l’Île Notre Dame.
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- sithcow - Jun 10, 2013 at 6:38 AM
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Awful programming. June 10th, (Today) NBC Sports says they will have the replay of F1 coverage 8:30pm PST to 11pm. Instead, as usual, it’s hours of some hockey documentary. Normally you only overplay it by 45 minutes or so. Tonight as far as I could tell you simply never aired any F1 at all. Absolutely the worst coverage of F1 I’ve ever seen. It’s like you guys are asleep in the control room. Probably because you’re watching hockey.
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- springhater - Jun 16, 2013 at 2:02 PM
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This coverage is a decade behind what Speed was doing. Thanks for nothing.
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