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The championship contender 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 costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively cost the race win for Piastri

Race Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his 7th win of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

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

Norris has been left with a 12-point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To secure the title, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if his rival wins the race next Sunday

Key Moments of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• The team's choice not to stop when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver handed by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The critical moment for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of the first corner on the seventh lap

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

The crucial part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the grand prix

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Statements

Speechless

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the best race I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my utmost but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen stated: This was an incredible race for us Our team executed the right call to pit It was smart And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, incredible

Ultimate Race Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most exciting racing, but once again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one