Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Real-Time Updates
Preamble
The author is about to begin to guide you through today's short race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT).
Real-Time Updates
Warm-Up Lap Period
The starting lap has started.
Track Information
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft informs us.
Countdown
The last moments is on.
Driver Situation
One point in Max Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes.
Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to Aston Martin team principal.
Grid Details
Just 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We take the learning for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the individual championship: McLaren have run away with 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. Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, as well. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, rather than significant in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the victor. However, second place here was enough for the driver to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver claimed F1 world title following his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.