🔗 Share this article

The championship contender capitalized on 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 gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Outcome and Championship Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his 7th victory of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the British driver fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

The McLaren driver earned an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point advantage over his rival, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on 5-7 December

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

Key Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by the team's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of the first corner on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit That brought out the safety car

The critical part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the race

With the tire manufacturer imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and Post-Race Statements

No words

Piastri added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my utmost but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us We made the right call to box That proved smart Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Ultimate Grand Prix Positions

• 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
• 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren Racing)
• 3. Sainz (Williams Racing)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren)
• 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 6. George Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 8. Leclerc (Ferrari)
• 9. Lawson (RB F1 Team)
• 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull Racing)

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one