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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the victory for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

The race winner won to take his 7th victory of the campaign, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

Norris won himself an additional points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been maintained a twelve point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Critical Events of the Thrilling 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 Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's strategy call

The Way The British Team Missed Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

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

With the tire manufacturer enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Responses and After the Event Statements

No words

The McLaren driver added in his after-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight I drove the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen said: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the right call to pit That proved smart And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

What's Next?

The crucial championship finale at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not produce the most thrilling competition, but yet again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one