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

This proved to be a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and retrospectively cost the victory for Piastri

Race Results and Championship Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

Norris has been maintained a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To win the championship, Norris must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival wins the race next race day

Critical Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by the team's tactical decision

How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven

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

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

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

Driver Reactions and After the Event Statements

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box It was intelligent Furthermore extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not create the most exciting competition, but once again this evening event hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one