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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively cost the race win for the Australian driver

Race Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner triumphed to take his seventh victory of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

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

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

To win the title, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Key Events of the Dramatic Race

• The team's decision not to stop when a yellow flag was deployed on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical point for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven

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

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

With Pirelli enforcing a 25-lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

Speechless

Piastri commented in his after-race interview: Clearly we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my utmost but couldn't secure victory

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

Ultimate Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting competition, but yet again this evening event hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in 2021