Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Real-Time Updates
Preamble
Philip is arriving soon to guide you through today's short race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Time
The warm-up lap has started.
Circuit Details
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator points out.
Final Moments
The countdown is on.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to challenge Red Bull's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky's internal discussion now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his promotion to the team lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming 20th and last in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. The team have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We take the experience for tomorrow," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position during this event. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Past Performance
Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, as well. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, just over 20 minutes remaining until the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, rather than highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points awarded to the winner. However, the runner-up spot in this race was enough for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins F1 world title following Pérez crashes out of the short race.
