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The championship contender 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

It was a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and in hindsight cost the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

Verstappen triumphed to take his 7th victory of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

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

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

To secure the title, the British driver must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if Verstappen takes victory next race day

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's choice not to pit when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected second podium for Sainz handed by the team's strategy call

How McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to overtake the Gasly around the outside of the first corner on lap seven

Hulkenberg'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 the tire manufacturer enforcing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my utmost but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen stated: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box It was intelligent Furthermore super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Ultimate Race Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most exciting racing, but once again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one