Qatar's Short Race and Grand Prix Qualifying: Real-Time Updates
Preamble
Our correspondent is about to begin to cover today's short race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Current Events
Starting Lap Time
The warm-up lap is underway.
Circuit Details
We have 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, the commentator reminds us.
Countdown
The last moments has begun.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes.
The analyst is jumping ahead to 2026, interviewing the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role.
Starting Positions
Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of 20th and last in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of Q1 again on Friday. The team have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he will start 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 learning for tomorrow," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect plenty of learning.
Team Standings
The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have run away with the team championship but the team, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader.
Past Performance
Piastri won that day – as he did last year, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Alright, just over twenty minutes remaining until the sprint race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, rather than highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the winner. Mind you, the runner-up spot in this race was enough for the driver to claim the title in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins F1 world title after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.