Qatar's Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Coverage
Preamble
Philip is arriving soon to cover today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).
Current Events
Warm-Up Lap Period
The warm-up lap has started.
Circuit Details
We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, the commentator informs us.
Final Moments
The last moments is underway.
Driver Situation
An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's lead driver.
Interview Updates
Sky interviewing Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes.
Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to the team team principal.
Grid Details
There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of Q1 once more on the previous day. The team have as a result made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Racer Statements
"We take the learning for tomorrow," states Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that.
Constructors' Championship
It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Previous Results
Piastri was victorious then – as he managed the previous season, as well. The driver from McLaren is attempting a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Alright, approximately twenty minutes remaining till the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, rather than significant in its itself, with just eight championship points awarded to the victor. Mind you, second place in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season.
The driver claimed the championship after his teammate's accident of the short race.
