🔗 Share this article Qatar Short Race and Main Event Grid Setting: Real-Time Coverage Preamble Our correspondent is arriving soon to take you through this day's short race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm). Real-Time Updates Starting Lap Period The starting lap is underway. Circuit Details There are nineteen laps around the lengthiest track in F1, David Croft points out. Final Moments The last moments is on. Racer Positions One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to mess with Red Bull's main man. Media Conversations Sky interviewing Sky currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team. Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, speaking with Adrian Newey about his promotion to the team lead role. Starting Positions Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of Q1 again on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area. Aston Martin's Stroll and the Alpine pair of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise. Racer Statements "We'll use the experience for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that. Team Standings The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have run away with the team championship but Mercedes, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, 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. Past Performance Piastri won that day – as he managed the previous season, too. The driver from McLaren is going for a third consecutive win. Short Race Importance Alright, approximately 20 minutes remaining till the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, it's greatest value is as a preview of what is to come, instead of significant in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the victor. Mind you, the runner-up spot here was sufficient for the driver to become champion in a prior season. Max Verstappen wins F1 world title following Pérez crashes out of the short race.