FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 28th, 2014

THREE DAYS UNTIL FORMULA ONE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX COVERAGE BEGINS ON NBC AND NBCSN

F1 Mercedes AMG Petronas Driver Lewis Hamilton on TODAY on Wednesday During 8-9 a.m. ET Hour

“They absolutely trounced the opposition this year.” – Analyst Steve Matchett on Mercedes

 “The U.S. Grand Prix is of major importance to Formula One…the fact is that all teams involved very much want to race in America.” – Analyst David Hobbs

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 28, 2014 – NBC Sports Group’s presentation of the Formula One United States Grand Prix begins in just three days, on Friday, Oct. 31, as and NBC and NBCSN will combine to provide unprecedented coverage of the event.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will be a guest on TODAY on NBC on Wednesday morning during the 8-9 a.m. ET hour to preview NBC’s presentation of the F1 U.S. Grand Prix this Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. ET.

Hamilton currently leads Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 17 points in the drivers’ championship standings heading into this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix will mark the third running of the event in Texas. Hamilton won the first U.S. Grand Prix held at Circuit of the Americas in 2012.

NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive U.S. Grand Prix coverage starts Friday with Practice 1 on NBCSN at 12:30 p.m. ET, and for the first time, NBC will air live qualifying on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

Click here for more information on NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive F1 U.S. Grand Prix coverage this week: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2014/10/27/nbc-sports-group-to-present-comprehensive-coverage-of-formula-one-united-states-grand-prix-on-nbc-nbcsn-this-weekend/

 

TRANSCRIPT – NBC SPORTS GROUP U.S. GRAND PRIX CONFERENCE CALL

NBC Sports Group’s lead Formula One broadcast team of Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), David Hobbs (analyst), Steve Matchett (analyst), and Will Buxton(on-site reporter), as well as NBC Sports and NBCSN executive producer Sam Flood, previewed the upcoming United States Grand Prix on a media conference call on Monday afternoon. Following are excerpts from the call:

Diffey on growing popularity of F1 in United States and Austin: “You have people in Formula One for a long time saying, “We love Austin…we love how the fans that attend love us.” I think that’s something we can really be proud of in this country. Although we’ve got immense history in Formula One in the United States, we’re kind of restarting again. We’re hitting the restart button for our third year in Austin.”

Hobbs on significance of an F1 race in the United States: “The U.S. Grand Prix is of major importance to Formula One because many, many of the sponsors involved in Formula One have got American roots…the fact is that all teams involved very much want to race in America.  And I think they’d all like to have a couple of events here.”

Matchett on Mercedes, who clinched the 2014 F1 Constructors’
Championship following Russian Grand Prix
: “Mercedes are an amazing engineering company, even away from Formula One. It’s very evident on their other forms of motorsport they’re involved in and certainly with their road car program, that when they design something, they design something incredibly well… they absolutely trounced the opposition this year.”

Click here for the full conference call transcript: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2014/10/28/transcript-nbc-sports-group-formula-one-united-states-grand-prix-conference-call/

Following is NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive motorsports coverage surrounding the F1 U.S. Grand Prix next weekend:

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Thurs., October 30 Off The Grid (Encore) NBCSN 7 p.m.
“1” – F1 Documentary NBCSN 7:30 p.m.
Road To Mercedes (Premiere) NBCSN 10 p.m.
Road to Ferrari (Encore) NBCSN 11 p.m.
Fri., October 31 /DRIVE on NBCSN (Encore) NBCSN 12 a.m.
/DRIVE on NBCSN (Encore) NBCSN 12:30 a.m.
Road To Mercedes (Encore) NBCSN 1 a.m.
Off The Grid (Encore) NBCSN 12 p.m.
F1 United States Grand Prix – Practice 1 NBCSN 12:30 p.m.
Road To Mercedes (Encore) NBCSN 2 p.m.
  F1 United States Grand Prix – Practice 2 NBCSN 3 p.m.
  F1 Countdown NBCSN 4:30 p.m.
F1 United States Grand Prix – Practice 2 (Encore) NBCSN 10:30 p.m.
Sat., November 1 F1 United States Grand Prix – Practice 3 & Qualifying NBC 1 p.m.
Sun., November 2 F1 United States Grand Prix – Qualifying (Encore) NBCSN 12:30 a.m.
F1 Countdown NBCSN 2 p.m.
F1 Countdown NBC 2:30 p.m.
F1 United States Grand Prix NBC 3 p.m.
F1 Extra NBC 5 p.m.

 

-NBC SPORTS GROUP-