Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage
Preamble
Our correspondent is arriving soon to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (6pm).
Current Events
Warm-Up Lap Period
The warm-up lap has begun.
Track Information
We have 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft reminds us.
Countdown
The final countdown has begun.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with the team's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky's internal discussion currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment again on the previous day. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the pit lane.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We'll use the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position during this event. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did last year, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a third consecutive win.
Short Race Importance
Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the short race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, rather than highly important in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the victor. Mind you, second place here was enough for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver claimed F1 world title after his teammate's accident of the short race.
