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Verstappen benefited from a tactical decision from the British team that flew in the face of 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 in hindsight threw away the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Championship Implications

The race winner triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was second and the British driver fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

The championship leader has been left with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To win the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Critical Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The fateful moment for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the German tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven

The German's car was left damaged beside the track That brought out the safety car

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

With the tire manufacturer imposing a 25-lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Statements

No words

Piastri added in his post-race interview: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight I drove the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my utmost but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: This was an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Grand Prix Standings

• 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
• 3. Sainz (Williams)
• 4. Norris (McLaren)
• 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 6. George Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. Alonso (Aston Martin F1)
• 8. Charles 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 exciting competition, but once 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 highly controversial first title in 2021