Our correspondent is arriving soon to take you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and qualifying (6pm).
The starting lap is underway.
There are 19 laps around the lengthiest track in Formula 1, David Croft reminds us.
The countdown is underway.
One point in Verstappen's advantage: his fellow driver Tsunoda is in front of him by a single position. He is unlikely to interfere with the team's lead driver.
Sky speaking with Sky currently: the analyst is at the Mercedes team.
The analyst is looking forward to the 2026 season, speaking with the engineer about his promotion to Aston Martin lead role.
Just 16 cars on the grid. It was another bad qualifying for Lewis Hamilton: following his result of twentieth and final in the previous race, resulting in an eighth-place finish in the main race, he failed to make it out of the first qualifying segment again on the previous day. The team have as a result made changes to his car configuration and so he begins from the starting area.
The team's Stroll and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto are all doing likewise.
"We take the learning for the next day," says Isack Hadjar, starting eleventh. There will be plenty of learning.
The focus isn't solely on the individual championship: McLaren have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a 40-point lead over their rivals, will be hoping to seal second place this weekend. Russell can assist in this goal from the front row, and Antonelli will begin immediately after Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did last year, too. The driver from McLaren is attempting a hat-trick.
Right, approximately twenty minutes remaining until the short race gets under way. Unless something goes wrong, 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 winner. Mind you, second place in this race was sufficient for Verstappen to claim the title two years ago.
Max Verstappen wins F1 world title after his teammate's accident of Qatar GP sprint race.
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