Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Updates
Introduction
Our correspondent is arriving soon to guide you through today's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Current Events
Formation Lap Period
The starting lap has begun.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, the commentator reminds us.
Final Moments
The last moments has begun.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to mess with the team's main man.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to the team team principal.
Starting Positions
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of Q1 once more on Friday. Ferrari have consequently adjusted to his car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We take the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: The team have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, are aiming to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Previous Results
Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately twenty minutes to go until the sprint race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, instead of highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for the driver to claim the title two years ago.
The driver claimed F1 world title following his teammate's accident of the short race.
