F1 live: Follow the Qatar GP as it happens

Replays show Alonso lost out by getting ushered out wide at Turn 2 on that opening lap. So Verstappen it is who leads Norris and Russell. Leclerc jumped Piastri for fourth, with Sainz sixth and Perez seventh.

As a result of the contact, Stroll has pitted to fit hard tyres after starting on mediums. 

There was a further crash for Williams - their 17th of the year - when Albon was squeezed off by Stroll, with the Aston Martin driver instigating contact between the pair. Bothe have continued, with Albon ahead in 16th and 17th. 

Colapinto was the innocent victim there. Hulkenberg lost the rear of his Haas and spun into the path of a fully locked up Ocon. On the outside, Colapinto was minding his own business and was collected. 

Replays show that Russell simply didn't have the chance to shut the door on Verstappen, who made his presence felt at the inside of Turn 1 by running the Mercedes out wide. Norris actually emerged from that first corner slightly ahead of Verstappen but couldn't brave it out around the outside of Turn 2.

It was a great start for both Red Bull drivers, as Perez has also gained two spots to move into seventh, ahead of Alonso and Hamilton.

That's a 16th crash of the year for Williams - just what they didn't need! 

Hulkenberg is continuing around with a left-rear puncture. We'll shortly find out exactly what went on there. 

Yellow flags in sector one. Colapinto and Ocon are in the gravel at Turn 1!

We're green in Qatar. Verstappen takes the lead into Turn 1 from Russell, with Norris also clearing the polesitter.

As the field heads around on the formation lap, they will have to temper their anticipation while waiting for Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon to follow the snake back around to the starting grid as the two drivers bringing up the rear.

We're moments away from the formation lap now. Hope you're found a comfortable seat.

Well, it's mediums (almost) all around. You have to go down to Hulkenberg in 18th to find a driver looking to mix things up on the strategy. Indeed, the Haas driver is the only one to start on the hard.

Sauber starts 12th and 13th today with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas only just missing out on Q3. Could the Swiss team belatedly score its first points of the season in Qatar?

You'll be shocked to learn that the risk of rain for the race is 0%. Red Bull hasn't been in the mix to win a dry race for several months, but it firmly is in with a shout today. Sergio Perez has also shown improved form by reaching Q3 yesterday, and starts ninth today alongside Kevin Magnussen's Haas.

We've spent plenty of time focused on what's happening on the track. But off the circuit, there has been plenty of column inches devoted to what is happening at the FIA, with several big names departing the governing body in recent times. But its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is unmoved by calls for action and criticisms from F1 drivers, as he told media earlier today. Here's what he had to say.

As Norris completes his final debrief with engineer Will Joseph before climbing in, he has a brief embrace with double world champion Mika Hakkinen. He knows a thing or two about winning in McLarens, does the Flying Finn.

For weather geeks, the air temperature is currently 19.3 °C with track temps at 23.3 °C and 55% humidity according to the timing screens.

Russell is asked by camera crews whether he expects a fired-up response from Verstappen to losing pole. He answers in the affirmative and says the Dutchman has already told him as such. Get your popcorn ready, folks.

Qatar is a first corner that often provides fireworks. Just look back to last year when Russell and Hamilton collided. Will there be another flash point today? If there is, then Ferrari could need to capitalise. The red team knows it needs to outscore McLaren today to keep its hopes of the manufacturers' title alive and currently faces a 30-point deficit after the papaya squad's sprint race 1-2.

We've barely mentioned them so far, but McLaren will certainly be in the mix today. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri start third and fourth - the Australian handed sprint race laurels after his team-mate slowed on the exit of the final corner to repay Piastri's Brazilian GP sprint gesture in ceding to Norris. The Brit appeared to have more pace than he was showing in the sprint as he sought to keep Piastri in DRS range. Can he showcase that today?

The cars and drivers have now arrived on the grid. Not long before we find out who is starting on medium, and who will go further into the race on hards. Zhou's struggles in the sprint on the soft suggest nobody will go near that until the very end if a window for a stop to gain a fastest lap bonus point opens up.

The FIA says a pit entry incident involving Oscar Piastri will be investigated after the race. More on that as we have it.

Cars are making their way to the grid now as we prepare for the starting procedures.

But after throwing the kitchen sink at set-up tweaks, per team boss Christian Horner, the RB20 was transformed in time for qualifying. Here Jonathan Noble explains what Red Bull did here to turn Red Bull a into bone fide contender in the dry for the first time since the summer. We wonder if the rally car Verstappen was referencing was actually a rather good one. Say, a Peugeot 206 WRC, rather than a Hyundai Accent...

Gilles Panizzi (FRA) slides his Peugeot 206 WRC around a hairpin on the way to victory

Photo by: Ralph Hardwick

Verstappen therefore will start second for his first Grand Prix since being crowned a four-time world champion last time out in Las Vegas. But even that represents a huge improvement on what anybody who observed his comments to Viaplay after placing eighth in the sprint race might have thought possible. "I just had no grip, the balance is terrible," he said. "On cold tyres you suffer even more from that. It felt like a rally car." 

The Red Bull driver had just taken his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, but was hauled up before the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly during a prep lap in Q3 while trying to cool his tyres. Russell was forced to take evading action, and the stewards took a dim view. Our own Stuart Codling and Jonathan Noble delve into what transpired in the video below.

Watch: Why Verstappen lost his pole start at the Qatar GP

George Russell will line up on pole for the second weekend in a row, but he didn't actually qualify fastest yesterday. He was pipped to the best time in Q3 by just 0.055s, but was elevated from second on the grid by a one-place grid penalty for Max Verstappen.

Hello and welcome to Autosport's live text coverage of the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix. We're just 40 minutes out from the start of the penultimate race of the season, and there's plenty to dig into. Without further ado, let's begin.