Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates
Introduction
Our correspondent is arriving soon to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Starting Lap Time
The starting lap is underway.
Circuit Details
There are 19 laps around the lengthiest track in Formula One, David Croft reminds us.
Countdown
The final countdown has begun.
Racer Positions
One point in Max Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's main man.
Interview Updates
Sky speaking with Sky currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is looking forward to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his stepping up to the team team principal.
Grid Details
There are only 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to 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 as a result adjusted to his setup 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.
Racer Statements
"We'll use the learning for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping 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.
Previous Results
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he managed the previous season, as well. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick.
Sprint Race Value
Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the sprint race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, instead of highly important in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the victor. Mind you, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.
Max Verstappen wins F1 world title after his teammate's accident of the short race.