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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively cost the victory for the Australian driver

Race Results and Title Implications

Verstappen won to take his 7th win of the campaign, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an extra two points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Critical Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver handed by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical moment for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven

The German's car was damaged beside the circuit That brought out the safety car

The critical part of the timing was that it meant there were 50 laps left in the race

With the tire manufacturer imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

Piastri commented in his after-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the best race I was capable of, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my utmost but didn't get it done

The race winner stated: This was an incredible race for us We made the right call to box That proved smart Furthermore super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Final Race Standings

• 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
• 2. Piastri (McLaren)
• 3. Sainz (Williams Racing)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing)
• 5. Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG)
• 6. George Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin F1)
• 8. Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari)
• 9. Lawson (Racing Bulls)
• 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

What's Next?

The crucial championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting racing, but yet again this twilight race features an event which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in 2021