🔗 Share this article

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

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and in hindsight cost the victory for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Outcome and Championship Consequences

The race winner won to take his seventh victory of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

Norris won himself an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the penultimate 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 December 5-7

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

Critical Events of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to stop when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by the Australian to advance his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

How The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The critical moment for McLaren was when the two drivers collided as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit That brought out the safety car

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

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

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the best race I was capable of, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my utmost but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to pit That proved intelligent Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Ultimate Grand Prix Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most thrilling competition, but yet again this twilight race features an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in 2021