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Verstappen capitalized on a tactical decision from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car deployment

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the victory for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

Verstappen won to take his seventh victory of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

Norris won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap

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

To win the championship, the British driver must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Critical Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz handed by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for McLaren was when the two drivers collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of the first corner on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the track That brought out the yellow flag

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

With Pirelli enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Statements

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the best race I could, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

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

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not create the most thrilling competition, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one