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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the victory for Piastri

Race Results and Title Implications

Verstappen triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the Briton fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

The McLaren driver won himself an extra two points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

The championship leader has been left with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To win the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next race day

Key Moments of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to stop when a safety car was called on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to advance his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The critical moment for the team was when the two drivers collided as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

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

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Responses and After the Event Statements

Speechless

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race interview: 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 best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: This was an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to pit It was intelligent And 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)
• 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams Racing)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing)
• 5. Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG)
• 6. Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 8. Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari)
• 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
• 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

Looking Ahead

The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina This venue does not produce the most thrilling competition, but once again this twilight race hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one