🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Updates Opening Notes The author is about to begin to guide you through today's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Formation Lap Time The warm-up lap is underway. Track Information There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, the commentator points out. Final Moments The final countdown has begun. Racer Positions An advantage in Max Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to challenge Red Bull's lead driver. Media Conversations Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team. Karun Chandhok is looking forward to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer about his stepping up to the team team principal. Starting Positions There are only 16 cars on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. Ferrari have consequently adjusted to his car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane. Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Racer Statements "We'll use the experience for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: The team have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen. Previous Results Oscar Piastri won that day – as he managed the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick. Sprint Race Value Alright, just over twenty minutes remaining until the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of what is to come, instead of significant in its own right, with only eight points available to the winner. Mind you, second place in this race was enough for Verstappen to become champion in a prior season. Max Verstappen claimed the championship after Pérez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.