🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Updates Preamble Philip will be here shortly to take you through today's short race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Warm-Up Lap Time The starting lap has begun. Track Information We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, the commentator informs us. Final Moments The countdown has begun. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to challenge Red Bull's main man. Interview Updates Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes. The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to the team lead role. Grid Details Just 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment again on the previous day. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his setup and so he will start from the starting area. Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We'll use the experience for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect plenty of learning. Team Standings It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the team championship but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen. Past Performance Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick. Short Race Importance Right, just over 20 minutes remaining till the short race begins. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, rather than significant in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, the runner-up spot here was enough for the driver to become champion in a prior season. The driver claimed the championship following Pérez crashes out of the short race.