🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Updates Preamble Our correspondent is arriving soon to cover today's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT). Current Events Starting Lap Period The formation lap has begun. Track Information We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft points out. Final Moments The last moments is underway. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to challenge the team's lead driver. Media Conversations Sky interviewing Sky now: the analyst is with Mercedes. Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role. Starting Positions There are only 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise. Driver Comments "We'll use the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: 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. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen. Past Performance Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Right, just over 20 minutes remaining till the short 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 only eight points available to the victor. Mind you, the runner-up spot here was enough for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season. The driver wins F1 world title after his teammate's accident of the short race.