Qatar Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Preamble
Our correspondent is arriving soon to guide you through this day's short race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Current Events
Formation Lap Time
The warm-up lap is underway.
Circuit Details
We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us.
Countdown
The last moments is on.
Driver Situation
One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. It's improbable to mess with the team's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is looking forward to the 2026 season, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team team principal.
Grid Details
Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to advance of Q1 once more on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his setup and so he will start from the pit lane.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Driver Comments
"We take the learning for the next day," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the individual championship: The team have run away with the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, will be hoping to seal second place this weekend. Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Previous Results
Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win.
Sprint Race Value
Alright, just over twenty minutes remaining till the sprint race begins. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, instead of significant in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the victor. However, second place in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season.
The driver claimed F1 world title after Pérez crashes out of the short race.
