🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Coverage Preamble Philip is about to begin to guide you through today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Real-Time Updates Warm-Up Lap Time The warm-up lap is underway. Track Information We have 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us. Final Moments The countdown is underway. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with the team's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky interviewing 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. Starting Positions Just 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming 20th and last in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. 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 duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise. Racer Statements "We take the experience for the next day," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to seal second place during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen. Previous Results Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, as well. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining till the short 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. Mind you, second place in this race was sufficient for the driver to claim the title in a prior season. The driver wins F1 world title after Pérez crashes out of the short race.