🔗 Share this article Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Live Updates Preamble Philip will be here shortly to guide you through this day's short race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Current Events Formation Lap Period The warm-up lap has started. Circuit Details There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, David Croft informs us. Final Moments The final countdown has begun. Driver Situation One point in Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to challenge Red Bull's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky's internal discussion currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team. The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to the team lead role. Starting Positions Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed 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 did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We take the experience for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that. Constructors' Championship The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen. Past Performance Piastri won that day – as he did last year, as well. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win. Short Race Importance Alright, approximately twenty minutes to go till the sprint race begins. Barring disaster, it's greatest value is as an indication of what is to come, instead of highly important in its own right, with only eight points available to the winner. Mind you, second place in this race was enough for the driver to claim the title in a prior season. The driver wins the championship after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.