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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team 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 retrospectively threw away the victory for Piastri

Race Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen won to take his seventh victory of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the British driver fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

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 overtook Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To win the title, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver handed by the team's strategy call

How McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The critical moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tires, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race interview: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: This was an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to box That proved intelligent And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Race Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting competition, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in 2021