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Preamble

Our correspondent is arriving soon to cover today's sprint race (2pm GMT) and qualifying (6pm).

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Formation Lap Time

The formation lap is underway.

Circuit Details

There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft reminds us.

Final Moments

The final countdown has begun.

Racer Positions

An advantage in Verstappen's advantage: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. It's improbable to interfere with Red Bull's main man.

Media Conversations

Sky speaking with Sky now: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.

Karun Chandhok is looking forward to the 2026 season, interviewing Adrian Newey about his stepping up to Aston Martin lead role.

Grid Details

There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he did not manage to make it out of Q1 once more on the previous day. The team have as a result made changes to his setup and so he begins from the pit lane.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Gasly and Franco Colapinto are all starting from the same position.

Racer Statements

"We take the learning for tomorrow," states Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be a lot of that.

Team Standings

It's not all about the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the team championship but Mercedes, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, will be hoping to secure the runner-up position this weekend. George Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after the leader.

Previous Results

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

Short Race Importance

Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, rather than highly important in its itself, with only eight points awarded to the winner. Mind you, second place in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to become champion two years ago.

The driver wins F1 world title following Pérez crashes out of the short race.