🔗 Share this article

Opening Notes

Philip is arriving soon to take you through this day's sprint race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).

Current Events

Formation Lap Time

The warm-up lap has started.

Circuit Details

We have 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, the commentator reminds us.

Countdown

The final countdown has begun.

Racer Positions

An advantage in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by one place. It's improbable to mess with the team's main man.

Interview Updates

Sky's internal discussion currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.

Karun Chandhok is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to the team lead role.

Starting Positions

There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, leading to an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to advance of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane.

Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position.

Driver Comments

"We'll use the learning for the next day," states Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that.

Constructors' Championship

It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.

Previous Results

Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, as well. The driver from McLaren is attempting a third consecutive win.

Short Race Importance

Alright, just over twenty minutes remaining till the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of what is to come, rather than highly important in its itself, with just eight championship points available to the winner. However, second place in this race was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season.

The driver wins the championship after Pérez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.