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Verstappen benefited from a tactical decision from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car period

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

Race Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner triumphed to take his 7th win of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was second and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver earned an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

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

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

Critical Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• The team's choice not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver handed by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Missed Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the outside of the first corner on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the track This triggered the yellow flag

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

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Reactions and Post-Race Statements

Speechless

Piastri added in his after-race interview: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

The race winner stated: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to pit It was smart And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Standings

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

What's Next?

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race hosts an event which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one