🔗 Share this article Qatar's Short Race and Grand Prix Grid Setting: Live Coverage Preamble The author is arriving soon to cover this day's short race (2pm GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Real-Time Updates Starting Lap Time The starting lap has begun. Circuit Details There are 19 laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft reminds us. Countdown The last moments has begun. Racer Positions An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's lead driver. Media Conversations Sky interviewing Sky now: the analyst is with Mercedes. The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer about his promotion to the team lead role. Grid Details There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of Q1 again on Friday. Ferrari have as a result adjusted to his car configuration and so he begins from the pit lane. The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise. Racer Statements "We'll use the experience for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have run away with the constructors' gong but the team, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, are aiming to seal second place this weekend. Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader. Previous Results Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Alright, just over twenty minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of future events, rather than highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the winner. 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.