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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car period

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen won to take his 7th win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

Norris won himself an extra two points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

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

To win the championship, the British driver must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next race day

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to advance his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by the team's tactical decision

How McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The critical moment for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of the first corner on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit This triggered the yellow flag

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

Speechless

Piastri commented in his post-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my utmost but didn't get it done

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box That proved smart And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Grand Prix Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not produce the most exciting racing, but once again this evening event features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one