Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Real-Time Coverage
Introduction
The author is arriving soon to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Current Events
Formation Lap Period
The formation lap is underway.
Track Information
We have 19 laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft informs us.
Final Moments
The last moments is underway.
Racer Positions
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.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes.
The analyst is looking forward to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role.
Starting Positions
Just 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area.
The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take 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 individual championship: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Previous Results
Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win.
Short Race Importance
Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, instead of highly important in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion two years ago.
The driver wins the championship following his teammate's accident of the short race.
