🔗 Share this article Qatar Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage Introduction The author is about to begin to guide you through this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Starting Lap Time The warm-up lap is underway. Circuit Details There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft reminds us. Countdown The last moments has begun. Driver Situation One point in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to challenge Red Bull's main man. Interview Updates Sky interviewing Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team. Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, speaking with the engineer 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 twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to advance of Q1 again on Friday. The team have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the pit lane. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We take the learning for tomorrow," states Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be plenty of learning. Team Standings It's not all about the individual championship: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader. Past Performance Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick. Short Race Importance Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, rather than significant in its itself, with only eight points available to the winner. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion two years ago. The driver wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.