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Verstappen benefited from a tactical decision 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 Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Race Results and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th victory of the campaign, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

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

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

To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if his rival wins the race next Sunday

Critical Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's decision not to stop when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's strategy call

How McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The fateful point for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of the first corner on lap seven

The German's car was left damaged beside the circuit That brought out the yellow flag

The crucial 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 tires, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my utmost but didn't get it done

The race winner stated: This was an incredible race for us We made the right call to pit That proved intelligent Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, incredible

Ultimate Race Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but yet again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one