🔗 Share this article Qatar's Sprint Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage Preamble Philip is arriving soon to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Current Events Formation Lap Period The formation lap has started. Circuit Details We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, the commentator reminds us. Final Moments The last moments is on. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. It's improbable to challenge Red Bull's main man. Interview Updates Sky interviewing Sky currently: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal. Starting Positions There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, resulting in an eighth position in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his setup and so he will start from the starting area. Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We'll use the learning for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader. Previous Results Piastri was victorious then – as he managed the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is attempting a third consecutive win. Short Race Importance Alright, just over 20 minutes to go till the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of what is to come, rather than significant in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the victor. However, the runner-up spot in this race was enough for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season. The driver wins F1 world title after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.