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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car deployment

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

Grand Prix Results and Title Consequences

The race winner triumphed to take his 7th victory of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was runner-up and the British driver fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

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

To win the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Key Moments of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to advance his final stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz handed by the team's strategy call

How The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The fateful point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was 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 25-lap safety limit on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I could, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to pit It was intelligent Furthermore super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling racing, but once again this evening event hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one