Qatar Short Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Preamble
The author is arriving soon to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Current Events
Warm-Up Lap Time
The starting lap is underway.
Circuit Details
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator informs us.
Final Moments
The countdown is on.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes.
The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team team principal.
Starting Positions
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed 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 failed to advance of Q1 once more on Friday. The team have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take the experience for tomorrow," states Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be plenty of learning.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining till the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as a preview of future events, instead of highly important in its own right, with only eight points available to the winner. However, second place here was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver wins the championship following his teammate's accident of the short race.
