🔗 Share this article

The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from McLaren 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 Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively cost the race win for the Australian driver

Race Results and Championship Consequences

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

Norris earned an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been maintained a 12-point lead over his rival, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if his rival wins the race next race day

Key Events of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to stop when a safety car was called on lap seven for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on lap seven

The German's car was left damaged beside the track 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 imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that meant anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight I drove the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

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 features an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one