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Verstappen capitalized on a strategy call from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that gave up track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and in hindsight threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

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

Norris earned an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

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

To win the title, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next race day

Key Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's choice not to pit when a safety car was called on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Lost Out in The Race

The critical point for the team was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

The German'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 remaining in the grand prix

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his after-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

The race winner stated: That represented an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box That proved intelligent And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the end, incredible

Ultimate Grand Prix Positions

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

What's Next?

The all-important title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most exciting competition, but yet again this twilight race features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one