Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Introduction
The author will be here shortly to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (6pm).
Current Events
Warm-Up Lap Time
The starting lap is underway.
Circuit Details
There are 19 laps around the lengthiest track in Formula 1, David Croft informs us.
Final Moments
The last moments is on.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with the team's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky speaking with Sky now: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team lead role.
Grid Details
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 Q1 again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.
Racer Statements
"We take the learning for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the individual championship: McLaren have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to seal second place this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, approximately twenty minutes to go till the sprint race begins. Barring disaster, it's greatest value 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, second place here was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins the championship following his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.
