🔗 Share this article Qatar's Short Race and Main Event Qualifying: Real-Time Updates Opening Notes Our correspondent is about to begin to guide you through today's short race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (6pm). Real-Time Updates Starting Lap Period The warm-up lap is underway. Circuit Details We have nineteen laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator points out. Countdown The final countdown is on. Racer Positions An advantage in Max Verstappen's favour: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to challenge the team's main man. Media Conversations Sky's internal discussion currently: Gary Neville is with Mercedes. Karun Chandhok is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role. Grid Details Just 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: following his result of 20th and last in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he did not manage to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on the previous day. Ferrari have consequently adjusted to his setup and so he will start from the pit lane. The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position. Driver Comments "We take the learning for the next day," says Hadjar, 11th on the grid. Expect a lot of that. Team Standings The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place during this event. Russell can help them achieve that from the front row, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader. Previous Results Oscar Piastri was victorious then – as he managed last year, as well. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win. Sprint Race Value Alright, just over 20 minutes remaining till the short race begins. Barring disaster, its main importance is as a preview of future events, instead of significant in its own right, with just eight championship points available to the victor. However, second place here was enough for the driver to claim the title in a prior season. Max Verstappen wins the championship after his teammate's accident of the short race.