🔗 Share this article Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage Preamble Philip is about to begin to take you through this day's short race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Live Feed Starting Lap Period The warm-up lap has begun. Circuit Details We have 19 laps around the lengthiest track in Formula 1, David Croft informs us. Countdown The final countdown has begun. Racer Positions An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky's internal discussion now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. The analyst is looking forward to 2026, interviewing Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role. Grid Details There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of 20th and last in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he will start from the starting area. Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise. Driver Comments "We take the experience for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen. Previous Results Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick. Short Race Importance Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, instead of highly important in its own right, with only eight points awarded to the victor. However, second place here was enough for the driver to become champion in a prior season. The driver wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.