Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates
Opening Notes
The author is arriving soon to take you through today's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).
Live Feed
Warm-Up Lap Time
The formation lap is underway.
Track Information
We have 19 laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, David Croft reminds us.
Final Moments
The last moments is on.
Racer Positions
An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. He is unlikely to challenge the team's main man.
Media Conversations
Sky's internal discussion currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is looking forward to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to the team lead role.
Starting Positions
There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. The team have consequently adjusted to his setup and so he will start from the starting area.
Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
Driver Comments
"We'll use the experience for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.
Team Standings
It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have run away with the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind Verstappen.
Previous Results
Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a hat-trick.
Short Race Importance
Right, just over twenty minutes remaining until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, instead of significant in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, second place here was enough for the driver to claim the title two years ago.
Max Verstappen wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of the short race.
