Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage
Opening Notes
Our correspondent is arriving soon to guide you through today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Time
The starting lap is underway.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator points out.
Countdown
The final countdown is on.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. He is unlikely to mess with the team's main man.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to the team team principal.
Grid Details
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. The team have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the pit lane.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We take the experience for the next day," states Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect plenty of learning.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the individual championship: The team have run away with the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Alright, approximately 20 minutes to go till the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, rather than significant in its itself, with only eight points available to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was sufficient for the driver to claim the title two years ago.
The driver wins the championship following Pérez crashes out of the short race.
