🔗 Share this article

Verstappen capitalized on a strategy call from the British team that contradicted decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Championship Consequences

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

The McLaren driver earned an extra two points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

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

To secure the title, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to stop when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by the Australian 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 handed by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The critical moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

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

With the tire manufacturer imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Statements

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen stated: That represented an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box That proved smart Furthermore extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Final Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one