🔗 Share this article

Preamble

Our correspondent is about to begin to guide you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (6pm).

Current Events

Warm-Up Lap Period

The warm-up lap is underway.

Circuit Details

There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula One, David Croft points out.

Countdown

The last moments has begun.

Driver Situation

One point in Max Verstappen's favour: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with the team's lead driver.

Media Conversations

Sky speaking with Sky currently: Gary Neville is at the Mercedes team.

The analyst is jumping ahead to the 2026 season, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role.

Grid Details

There are only sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on Friday. The team have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all doing likewise.

Driver Comments

"We'll use the experience for the next day," says Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.

Constructors' Championship

It's not all about the drivers' title: The team have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to seal second place this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will start just behind the leader.

Previous Results

Piastri was victorious then – as he did last year, as well. McLaren's Australian is going for a hat-trick.

Short Race Importance

Alright, approximately 20 minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, its main importance is as an indication of future events, rather than significant in its own right, with just eight championship points awarded to the winner. However, the runner-up spot in this race was enough for the driver to claim the title two years ago.

The driver claimed F1 world title after Pérez crashes out of Qatar GP sprint race.