🔗 Share this article

The championship contender benefited from 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 period

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively cost the race win for the Australian driver

Race Outcome and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th win of the season, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

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

The championship leader 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, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next race day

Critical Events of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver handed by the team's strategy call

How The British Team Missed Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for the team was when the two drivers collided as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the circuit That brought out the safety car

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and Post-Race Statements

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his after-race conversation: Clearly 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 stated: That represented an amazing performance for us We made the right call to box It was smart Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but once again this evening event features an event which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one