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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

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

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

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

To win the championship, Norris must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's decision not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical point for the team was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

The crucial part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the race

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I could, 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 said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to box It was smart And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not produce the most thrilling competition, but yet again this evening event hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in 2021