🔗 Share this article Qatar Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Updates Opening Notes The author is about to begin to take you through this day's short race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT). Live Feed Warm-Up Lap Time The starting lap has started. Track Information There are nineteen laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft informs us. Final Moments The last moments is underway. Racer Positions One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with the team's main man. Interview Updates Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team lead role. Grid Details There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on the previous day. The team have consequently made changes to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise. Driver Comments "We'll use the learning for tomorrow," states Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be plenty of learning. Constructors' Championship It's not all about the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader. Past Performance Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he managed the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Right, approximately 20 minutes remaining till the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as an indication of future events, instead of significant in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the victor. However, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion two years ago. The driver wins F1 world title after Pérez crashes out of the short race.