🔗 Share this article

The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

This proved to be a expensive choice that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th win of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

Norris won himself an extra two points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

The championship leader has been maintained a 12-point lead over his rival, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the title, Norris must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next race day

Key Moments of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The fateful point for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the track This triggered the yellow flag

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

With the tire manufacturer imposing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments

Speechless

Piastri commented in his post-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my utmost but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: This was an incredible race for us We made the right call to pit That proved intelligent And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Race Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not create the most exciting competition, but once again this twilight race features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one