🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage Introduction Philip will be here shortly to cover this day's short race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Warm-Up Lap Period The starting lap is underway. Circuit Details We have nineteen laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft points out. Final Moments The last moments is on. Driver Situation One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, 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 Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. The team have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the pit lane. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise. Racer Statements "We take the learning for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader. Past Performance Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Alright, approximately 20 minutes remaining till the sprint race begins. Barring disaster, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, rather than significant in its itself, with only eight points available to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was enough for Verstappen to become champion two years ago. The driver wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of the short race.