Qatar Short Race and Main Event Qualifying: Real-Time Coverage
Preamble
The author will be here shortly to take you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Real-Time Updates
Warm-Up Lap Time
The warm-up lap is underway.
Track Information
There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft points out.
Countdown
The countdown is underway.
Driver Situation
One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's lead driver.
Media Conversations
Sky interviewing Sky currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to the team team principal.
Grid Details
Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of Q1 again on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane.
The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the experience for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the individual championship: The team have run away with 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 the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Past Performance
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he managed last year, as well. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win.
Sprint Race Value
Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, rather than significant in its own right, with only eight points available to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.
The driver claimed F1 world title following his teammate's accident of the short race.
