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The championship contender capitalized on a tactical decision from the British team that contradicted decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen won to take his 7th victory of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

Norris won himself an additional points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap

Norris has been maintained a 12-point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of his teammate 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 his rival takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful point for the team was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of the first corner on lap seven

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

The critical part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the grand prix

With Pirelli enforcing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I could, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit It was intelligent Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, incredible

Final Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but once again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in 2021