Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage
Preamble
Philip is about to begin to guide you through today's short race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Real-Time Updates
Formation Lap Period
The starting lap has started.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator informs us.
Countdown
The last moments has begun.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role.
Starting Positions
Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming 20th and last in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take the experience for the next day," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he managed the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Alright, approximately twenty minutes to go till the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, rather than highly important in its own right, with only eight points available to the victor. Mind you, second place here was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season.
Max Verstappen claimed F1 world title after his teammate's accident of the short race.
