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The championship contender capitalized on a tactical decision from the British team that contradicted 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 closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri

Race Results and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

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

Norris has been left with a twelve point lead over his rival, who overtook Piastri 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 Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by Piastri to advance his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A surprise second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of the first corner on the seventh lap

The German's car was damaged beside the circuit That brought out the yellow flag

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

With Pirelli enforcing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Statements

No words

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight I drove the strongest performance I could, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my utmost but couldn't secure victory

The race winner said: That represented an amazing performance for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent Furthermore extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The crucial championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but yet again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one