Qatar Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Updates
Preamble
The author will be here shortly to guide you through today's short race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Live Feed
Formation Lap Period
The warm-up lap has begun.
Track Information
There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us.
Final Moments
The countdown has begun.
Racer Positions
One point in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky speaking with Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, interviewing the engineer about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal.
Starting Positions
There are only 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming 20th and last in the previous race, resulting in an eighth position in the grand prix, he failed to advance of Q1 again on Friday. The team have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the experience for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have dominated the team championship but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position during this event. Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Previous Results
Piastri was victorious then β as he did last year, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win.
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 a preview of future events, instead of highly important in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the victor. However, second place here was sufficient for the driver to become champion two years ago.
The driver wins F1 world title following PΓ©rez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.
