Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates
Introduction
Philip is arriving soon to cover today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Current Events
Starting Lap Period
The formation lap is underway.
Circuit Details
We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us.
Countdown
The last moments is underway.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky's internal discussion currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, interviewing the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin team principal.
Grid Details
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming twentieth and final 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 car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We take the learning for the next day," states Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he managed last year, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Right, just over twenty minutes to go till the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, instead of significant in its itself, with just eight championship points awarded to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season.
The driver claimed F1 world title following his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.
