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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 period

It was a expensive choice that gave up track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively cost the victory for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen won to take his 7th victory of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an extra two points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

The championship leader has been left with a twelve point lead over Verstappen, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the title, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next race day

Key Moments of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's decision not to stop when a safety car was called on the seventh lap for a collision between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch the leader 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 moment for the team was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the exterior of the first corner on the seventh lap

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

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

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap safety limit on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and Post-Race Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: That represented an amazing performance for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

What's Next?

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but yet again this evening event hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one