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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the victory for the Australian driver

Race Outcome and Title Consequences

The race winner triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the Briton fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

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

The championship leader has been left with a twelve point advantage over Verstappen, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on 5-7 December

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

Key Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader came to nothing
• A unexpected second podium for Sainz gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The critical moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

The German's car was left damaged beside the track That brought out the safety car

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

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

Driver Responses and Post-Race Statements

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his after-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my utmost but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit It was intelligent Furthermore super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina This venue does not create the most exciting racing, but once again this evening event features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one