Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Qualifying: Live Updates
Preamble
Philip will be here shortly to take you through this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Starting Lap Period
The warm-up lap is underway.
Track Information
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, David Croft reminds us.
Final Moments
The last moments has begun.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to interfere with the team's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is looking forward to 2026, interviewing the engineer about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal.
Starting Positions
Just 16 cars on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of 20th and last in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of Q1 once more on Friday. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his setup and so he will start from the starting area.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take the learning for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the team championship but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Previous Results
Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, instead of significant in its own right, with just eight championship points awarded to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion two years ago.
The driver wins the championship following Pérez crashes out of the short race.
