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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 deployment

It was a costly decision that gave up track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Outcome and Title Implications

Verstappen won to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an extra two points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To win the championship, the British driver must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The critical point for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

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

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

With Pirelli enforcing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

No words

Piastri added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I was capable of, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: This was an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent Furthermore extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Grand Prix Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial championship finale at the Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but once again this twilight race features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one