🔗 Share this article

The championship contender 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

This proved to be a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the victory for Piastri

Race Results and Championship Consequences

Verstappen won to take his seventh victory of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

Norris earned an extra two points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a twelve point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next race day

Critical Events of the Thrilling Race

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a collision between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected second podium for the Williams driver gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The critical moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the circuit That brought out the safety car

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

With Pirelli enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements

No words

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

The race winner stated: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box That proved intelligent And super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, incredible

Final Race Positions

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

What's Next?

The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting racing, but yet again this twilight race hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in 2021