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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car period

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight cost the race win for the Australian driver

Grand Prix Outcome and Championship Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his 7th win of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the British driver fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

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

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

To win the championship, Norris must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Key Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• The team's choice not to stop when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch the leader came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz gifted by the team's tactical decision

The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar

The critical point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided 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 circuit This triggered the safety car

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who made a stop at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Reactions and Post-Race Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to box That proved smart And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Ultimate Race Positions

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most exciting competition, but yet again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in 2021