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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

This proved to be a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

The race winner won to take his seventh win of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, 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 the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

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

To secure the title, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen takes victory next race day

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• The team's decision not to pit when a safety car was called on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A surprise second podium for Sainz gifted by McLaren's strategy call

How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar

The critical point for McLaren was when the two drivers collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

The crucial 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 tires, that meant anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his after-race interview: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the best race I could, as fast as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to box That proved intelligent Furthermore super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Ultimate Race Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The crucial championship finale at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting racing, but yet again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one