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Opening Notes

The author is about to begin to cover today's short race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (18:00 GMT).

Current Events

Starting Lap Time

The formation lap is underway.

Circuit Details

There are nineteen laps of the longest circuit in Formula 1, David Croft points out.

Countdown

The last moments is on.

Driver Situation

One point in Max Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's main man.

Media Conversations

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

The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, interviewing the engineer about his promotion to the team lead role.

Grid Details

Just sixteen vehicles on the grid. It was another poor grid-setting session for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth-place finish in the grand prix, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. Ferrari have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he will start from the pit lane.

The team's Lance Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all starting from the same position.

Racer Statements

"We take the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. Expect plenty of learning.

Team Standings

The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: McLaren have dominated the team championship but the team, with a forty-point advantage over their rivals, are aiming 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

Piastri was victorious then – as he did the previous season, as well. The driver from McLaren is going for a hat-trick.

Short Race Importance

Right, just over 20 minutes to go till the sprint race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, it's greatest value is as an indication of future events, rather than significant in its itself, with only eight points available to the victor. However, second place in this race was sufficient for the driver to claim the title in a prior season.

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