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F1 heads to Doha this weekend for the Qatar Grand Prix, which will feature the sprint events on Saturday, October 7.
If you’re unfamiliar with this format, a sprint race is a condensed version of a standard race, covering a distance of around 100 km. The sprint race was introduced to add excitement to the race weekends with three days of action: Qualifying on Friday, the sprint race on Saturday, and the main race on Sunday.
For this particular event, a sprint shootout to decide the Saturday grid will take place at 9 a.m. ET followed by the actual sprint race at 1:30 p.m. ET.
How to watch the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race shootout
Date: Saturday, October 7
Time: 9 a.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN2
Live stream: WatchESPN
How to watch the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race
Date: Saturday, October 7
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPNEWS, ESPN
Live stream: WatchESPN, ESPN+
So far in 2023, there have been three sprint races. Max Verstappen won the last two while finishing third in the other. His teammate, Sergio Perez, finished first in the Azerbaijan sprint race, second in Austria, and then did not finish in Belgium.
The most recent sprint race was in Belgium, where Verstappen won, Oscar Piastri finished second, and Pierre Gasly claimed third place.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Verstappen has -140 odds to record the fastest lap and win the sprint race. He’s a heavy favorite at -800 odds to finish top three in the sprint. Lando Norris has -150 odds to finish top three, while Sergio Perez (-110), Oscar Piastri (+150), and Lewis Hamilton (+250) have the next-best odds to accomplish that feat.