Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates
Opening Notes
The author is arriving soon to cover this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Current Events
Starting Lap Time
The warm-up lap has started.
Track Information
There are 19 laps around the lengthiest track in F1, the commentator points out.
Countdown
The last moments is underway.
Racer Positions
One point in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. He is unlikely to interfere with Red Bull's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky's internal discussion currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey 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 the driver: after coming 20th and last in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to advance of Q1 again on the previous day. The team have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We take the experience for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Previous Results
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win.
Short Race Importance
Right, approximately twenty minutes remaining till the sprint race begins. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, instead of highly important in its itself, with only eight points available to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver claimed the championship following his teammate's accident of the short race.
