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

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and in hindsight threw away the victory for the Australian driver

Race Results and Title Consequences

Verstappen won to take his seventh win of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an extra two points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been maintained a 12-point lead over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the title, Norris must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if his rival wins the race next race day

Critical Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to stop when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected second podium for Sainz gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way The British Team Missed Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of the first corner on lap seven

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

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

With the tire manufacturer imposing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that moment was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his after-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight I drove the best race I could, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Tried my utmost but didn't get it done

Verstappen said: This was an incredible race for us Our team executed the right call to pit It was intelligent And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, incredible

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling racing, but yet again this evening event hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one