Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage
Preamble
The author is about to begin to take you through today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT).
Real-Time Updates
Formation Lap Period
The starting lap has begun.
Track Information
We have 19 laps around the lengthiest track in F1, the commentator reminds us.
Countdown
The final countdown is underway.
Driver Situation
One point in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky currently: Gary Neville is with Mercedes.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer 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, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. The team have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the learning for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be plenty of learning.
Team Standings
The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: The team have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to seal second place during this event. Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he did last year, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the short race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, rather than significant in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.
The driver wins the championship after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.
