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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that contradicted decisions made by all other squads 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 cost the victory for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th victory of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an extra two points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap

Norris has been maintained a twelve point advantage over Verstappen, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the title, Norris must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next race day

Critical Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader came to nothing
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

The German's car was left damaged beside the track This triggered the safety car

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

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap safety limit on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Reactions and After the Event Statements

Speechless

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

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box That proved smart Furthermore super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Race Positions

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

Looking Ahead

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