🔗 Share this article

The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car period

It was a costly decision that gave up track position to Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively cost the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Outcome and Title Implications

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

Norris won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

The championship leader has been maintained a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To secure the championship, the British driver must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next race day

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Race

• The team's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg
• A strategy initiated by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch the leader came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for the Williams driver handed by McLaren's strategy call

How McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

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

The critical part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the grand prix

With the tire manufacturer imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Tried my utmost but couldn't secure victory

The race winner said: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to box It was smart And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, incredible

Final Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most exciting racing, but yet again this evening event features an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's first title in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one