F1 Qatar GP live commentary and updates - sprint race
Follow live updates of the F1 Qatar Grand Prix sprint race at Losail International Circuit
Live Standings
Live Text
Otherwise, that's all for now and we will be back for qualifying later!
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
Late drama: it's now Antonelli's turn to receive a 5s penalty - again for track limits. So Tsunoda is back up to fifth and Antonelli sixth.
Max Verstappen was fourth and Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line in fifth, but his 5s penalty has dropped him into sixth with Andrea Kimi Antonelli completing the top five.
Oscar Piastri wins the Qatar Grand Prix sprint with George Russell and Lando Norris joining him on the podium.
I wish I could say it was thrilling, but it wasn't.
Lap 19/19
Final lap...thank goodness!
Lap 18/19
As it stands, Piastri closes his championship deficit to Norris to 22 points, while Verstappen's gap rises to 25.
Lap 16/19
Into the closing laps now and Piastri seemingly has it all under control - Russell in the Mercedes just hasn't got near.
Verstappen's pressure on Norris is also over and everything is static behind as well.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lap 14/19
Oh Yuki, come on! It's a five-second penalty for the Red Bull driver after too many track limit infringements. He's currently fifth and right now he'll drop to around seventh.
Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lap 13/19
What's the old London bus saying? Another overtake as Antonelli takes sixth from Alonso down the start-finish straight - though much of that was down to the Aston Martin driver's poor exit out of the final corner.
Lap 13/19
We have an overtake! It's Charles Leclerc on Liam Lawson for 13th down the start-finish straight - exactly the kind of position Ferrari wants to be fighting for.
"Starting to see some degradation on other cars," says Russell, who is now 2.1s behind Piastri.
Remember, on Sunday teams must not complete a stint of more than 25 laps due to worries about tyre failure at Losail.
Here's a pic of Gordon and Lando's dad shaking hands for your entertainment. Can you tell there's not much happening in the race right now? Just impossible to overtake.
Adam Norris and Gordon Ramsay on the grid
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images via Getty Images
"I'm constantly jumping, not only bouncing."
Verstappen reporting similar issues to what he faced in sprint quali on Friday.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lap 7/19
Anybody else counting down the laps until the end? Not really any on track battles happening right now, as Verstappen has even dropped back from Norris.
Lap 5/19
As one of my colleagues just said: "On to qualifying."
Piastri seems like he's in a league of his own, as does Russell from Norris. Yes Verstappen is close to Lando, but I wonder if he'll attempt a divebomb somewhere. All very static right now.
Lap 2/19
Piastri has streaked clear and is already a second ahead of Russell. But the fight for third is close with Verstappen just behind Norris, having also had a look down the inside of Turn 1.
Lap 1/19
It's a brilliant start from Piastri who holds position, as do the others in the top three with Russell second and Norris third. But Verstappen has jumped his Red Bull team-mate into fourth - who saw that one coming?
And we're off!
The formation lap is go and medium is the choice of rubber.
But let's look forward now, because the sprint race is coming up!
Apropos Grosjean, I remember watching that grand prix with a friend that had never watched F1 before. Some race to start with!
Might need a lie down at this already being five years ago...
It's impressive that Ogier is still going strong in his 40s, but do you know who else is? Fernando Alonso.
The Aston Martin driver, 44, starts fourth in today's sprint and he spoke about how his experience is both a blessing and a curse.
“Yeah, I mean, 24 years experience, 44-year-old, it has some disadvantages," he said.
“I get a bit more tired with the jet lag and the travelling, but I know the tracks, I know the tyres, I know the car, I know how to track everything on Friday. Then on Saturday, it's true that we can open the parc ferme.
“We do change the car a little bit, minor tweaks, and yeah, everyone seems to get on top of the circuit. But yeah, let's see, let's go one step at a time. Let's do tomorrow, the sprint race, and then into quali [for Sunday’s grand prix].”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images
I know this is an F1 live update page, but we've a newly crowned world champion in rally: Sebastien Ogier, who has equalled Sebastien Loeb's record of nine WRC titles.
What is it about French rally drivers called Sebastien?
Well, we're getting close to the sprint race as cars are now out on their way to the grid. Just under 30 minutes to go...
But there is a third man in this title fight and that is the reigning champion Verstappen.
He is 24 points off leader Norris, though that gap could be a lot smaller had he not lost his cool in Barcelona. Regardless, the Red Bull driver spoke about how that moment won't be what loses him the championship, should it go to a McLaren driver.
"That's a moment that you look back at and that's not OK, but it's also not a moment that at the end of the season, let's say I miss out on the championship, it's not a moment that I will say ‘that's the moment that I lost it’, because we've lost it because of our general performance," he told F1 TV.
“We've still been in it also because of our performance, because we did maximise or over-perform in other places, or we just were better in executing.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL39 Mercedes, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL39 Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-25, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB21
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Piastri has the perfect opportunity to get back on form, so will this smile remain in a couple hours' time?
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
Hello and welcome to today's live commentary of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race at Losail International Circuit!
By: Ed Hardy
