Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Preamble
Philip is about to begin to cover today's short race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Current Events
Formation Lap Period
The starting lap is underway.
Track Information
We have nineteen laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft points out.
Final Moments
The countdown is on.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky currently: Gary Neville is with Mercedes.
The analyst is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his promotion to the team lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of twentieth and final in Las Vegas, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of Q1 again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his setup and so he will start from the starting area.
The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the learning for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win.
Short Race Importance
Right, approximately twenty minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, instead of highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the victor. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was enough for the driver to claim the title in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of the short race.
