🔗 Share this article Qatar Sprint Race and Main Event Qualifying: Live Updates Opening Notes The author is about to begin to take you through today's short race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Current Events Warm-Up Lap Time The warm-up lap has started. Track Information There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft informs us. Countdown The countdown is underway. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to interfere with the team's main man. Interview Updates Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is with Mercedes. The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role. Grid Details There are only 16 cars on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth position in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. Ferrari have consequently adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We take the experience for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from second place, and Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader. Past Performance Piastri was victorious then – as he managed the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win. Short Race Importance Right, approximately 20 minutes remaining till the short race begins. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as a preview of future events, instead of significant in its own right, with just eight championship points awarded to the victor. However, second place here was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title in a prior season. Max Verstappen claimed F1 world title following his teammate's accident of the short race.