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The championship contender capitalized on a tactical decision from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively cost the victory for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Championship Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his 7th victory of the campaign, 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 won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

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

To win the title, Norris must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Key Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort 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 McLaren was when the two drivers collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

The German's car was left damaged beside the circuit This triggered the yellow flag

The critical part of the timing was that it meant there were 50 laps left in the race

With Pirelli enforcing a 25-lap safety limit on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Statements

No words

Piastri commented in his post-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

The race winner said: That represented an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box It was intelligent And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one