🔗 Share this article

Verstappen benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car period

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Outcome and Championship Consequences

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

The McLaren driver earned an extra two points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap

Norris has been maintained a twelve point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Key Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's decision not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's tactical decision

The Way The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The fateful point for the team was when the two drivers collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the track This triggered the safety car

The critical 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 signified anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements

No words

The McLaren driver added in his after-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I was capable of, as quick as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Tried my utmost but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the right call to box It was smart And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, incredible

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not produce the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in 2021