Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates
Preamble
Philip is arriving soon to take you through today's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Period
The warm-up lap is underway.
Circuit Details
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us.
Final Moments
The countdown is on.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of twentieth and final in Las Vegas, resulting in an eighth position in the grand prix, he failed to advance of Q1 again on Friday. The team have as a result made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the experience for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Previous Results
Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a third consecutive win.
Short Race Importance
Right, just over 20 minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, instead of significant in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
Max Verstappen claimed F1 world title after his teammate's accident of the short race.
