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Preamble

Philip is about to begin to take you through this day's sprint race (14:00 GMT) and grid-setting session (6pm).

Real-Time Updates

Warm-Up Lap Time

The starting lap has started.

Track Information

There are 19 laps of the longest circuit in F1, David Croft points out.

Countdown

The last moments has begun.

Driver Situation

One point in Verstappen's favour: his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of him by one place. He is unlikely to mess with Red Bull's lead driver.

Interview Updates

Sky interviewing Sky now: Gary Neville is with Mercedes.

Karun Chandhok is looking forward to 2026, speaking with the engineer about his stepping up to Aston Martin team principal.

Grid Details

There are only 16 cars on the grid. This followed another bad qualifying for the driver: after coming twentieth and final in Las Vegas, leading to an eighth position in the main race, he did not manage to advance of the first qualifying segment once more on Friday. Ferrari have consequently made changes to his car configuration and so he will start from the starting area.

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

Driver Comments

"We'll use the learning for tomorrow," says Isack Hadjar, 11th on the grid. There will be a lot of that.

Team Standings

The focus isn't solely on the drivers' title: The team have dominated the constructors' gong but the team, with a forty-point advantage over Red Bull, are aiming to seal second place during this event. George Russell can help them achieve that from second place, and Kimi Antonelli will start just behind the leader.

Past Performance

Oscar Piastri won that day – as he did the previous season, too. McLaren's Australian is going for a third consecutive win.

Sprint Race Value

Right, just over twenty minutes to go until the short race gets under way. Barring disaster, its main importance is as an indication of what is to come, instead of significant in its own right, with only eight points awarded to the winner. However, second place here was enough for the driver to become champion in a prior season.

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