LIVE Sprint Race: Ferrari versus McLaren, F1 championship battle in Qatar – Live Commentary. LIVE: F1 Sprint Race in Qatar, Ferrari against McLaren for the lead in the Constructors' Championship.

LIVE from the F1 Sprint Race in Qatar: Ferrari versus McLaren, follow the live commentary of this world championship clash. The circus returns to the track in Lusail, and it’s immediately a showdown between Maranello and Woking. The Sprint Shootout highlighted the excellent single-lap performance of the MCL38, but the SF-24 has room for improvement. Saturday’s race will immediately put precious points on the line for the team standings.

The Qatar weekend begins with pole position for Lando Norris. Not a surprise, judging by the predictions beforehand, but a result that can finally bring a small satisfaction to the Papaya team. With the drivers’ championship already decided, won by Max Verstappen in Las Vegas, all of the team’s efforts are now focused on the Constructors’ title.

The fiercest battle will be with Ferrari: it’s unlikely that Red Bull can recover the ground lost. In Qatar, Sergio Perez once again struggles significantly, being eliminated in SQ1 and only managing sixteenth on the grid for the Sprint Race. Max Verstappen does better, starting sixth, but with rivals in such strong form, it will be very difficult to repeat the success from Interlagos.

Maranello will have to regroup after the Sprint Shootout. The few hours between Free Practice and qualifying made a huge difference in performance gaps among the top teams: Ferrari must understand what went wrong and adjust ahead of the Sprint Race. Significant understeer seems to have slowed the two Ferraris, but there is hope this can be corrected before the race.