Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage
Introduction
Our correspondent will be here shortly to take you through today's short race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (6pm).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Period
The formation lap has begun.
Track Information
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft points out.
Countdown
The last moments is on.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Max Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with the team's main man.
Interview Updates
Sky speaking with Sky now: the analyst is with Mercedes.
The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.
The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take the learning for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately 20 minutes remaining till the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, instead of highly important in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, second place here was sufficient for the driver to become champion two years ago.
The driver claimed the championship after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.
