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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an initial safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that gave up track position to Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the victory for Piastri

Grand Prix Outcome and Title Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his seventh win of the campaign, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an additional points by passing the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

The championship leader has been left with a twelve point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

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

Key Events of the Dramatic Race

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver handed by the team's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful point for McLaren was when the two drivers collided as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the outside of the first corner on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit That brought out the yellow flag

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

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap safety limit on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I was capable of, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit It was smart And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Race Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one