🔗 Share this article Qatar Short Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Coverage Preamble The author is arriving soon to cover this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Formation Lap Period The warm-up lap has begun. Track Information We have 19 laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft reminds us. Final Moments The countdown is on. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with the team's lead driver. Interview Updates Sky's internal discussion currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team. The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal. Grid Details Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final 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 the previous day. The team have consequently made changes to his car configuration 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. Racer Statements "We take the learning for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader. Previous Results Piastri won that day – as he did last year, as well. The driver from McLaren is attempting a hat-trick. Sprint Race Value Right, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the short race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, rather than highly important in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for the driver to claim the title two years ago. Max Verstappen claimed the championship following his teammate's accident of the short race.