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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an initial safety car period

It was a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the victory for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

Verstappen triumphed to take his seventh win of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap

The championship leader has been left with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To win the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Critical Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver gifted by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for the team was when the two drivers came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the circuit This triggered the safety car

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

With Pirelli enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements

No words

Piastri commented in his post-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as quick as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: This was an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to box It was intelligent And super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Ultimate Race Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one