Qatar's Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Real-Time Updates
Opening Notes
Our correspondent will be here shortly to guide you through today's short race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (6pm).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Period
The formation lap is underway.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator informs us.
Countdown
The final countdown is underway.
Driver Situation
One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to challenge the team's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky interviewing Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role.
Grid Details
Just 16 cars on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of Q1 once more on the previous day. The team have as a result adjusted to his setup and so he begins from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be 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 their rivals, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Previous Results
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately 20 minutes remaining until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, instead of highly important in its own right, with only eight points awarded to the victor. However, second place in this race was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins F1 world title following his teammate's accident of the short race.
