🔗 Share this article Qatar's Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Coverage Opening Notes Our correspondent is about to begin to guide you through this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Warm-Up Lap Period The starting lap has started. Track Information There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, David Croft reminds us. Final Moments The countdown is underway. Driver Situation An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. He is unlikely to interfere with the team's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky's internal discussion now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role. Grid Details Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth position in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the starting area. Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We take the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: 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 during this event. George Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen. Past Performance Piastri was victorious then – as he managed the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick. Short Race Importance Right, just over 20 minutes remaining till the short race begins. Barring disaster, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, instead of significant in its own right, with just eight championship points awarded to the victor. Mind you, second place in this race was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season. The driver wins F1 world title following his teammate's accident of the short race.