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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from the British team that contradicted decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car period

It was a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Race Results and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his seventh win of the campaign, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

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

Norris has been left with a twelve point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the title, the British driver must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Race

• The team's decision not to stop when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a last-ditch effort to catch the leader came to nothing
• A surprise second podium for Sainz gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

How The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The critical moment for the team was when the two drivers collided as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

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

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his after-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: That represented 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 Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling racing, but yet again this evening event features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one