Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Opening Notes
Our correspondent will be here shortly to take you through this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Current Events
Warm-Up Lap Time
The starting lap has begun.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps around the lengthiest track in F1, the commentator informs us.
Countdown
The last moments has begun.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with the team's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky now: the analyst is with Mercedes.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal.
Grid Details
Just 16 cars on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to advance of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. The team have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the experience for the next day," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the individual championship: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place during this event. Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Previous Results
Oscar Piastri was victorious then ā as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win.
Sprint Race Value
Right, just over 20 minutes remaining until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, rather than highly important in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver claimed the championship after PĆ©rez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.
