Norris' Championship Wait Goes On as Max Verstappen Wins in Qatar

Verstappen capitalized on a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car deployment

It was a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri

Race Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner won to take his seventh victory of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an extra two points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

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

To win the championship, the British driver must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next race day

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Race

• The team's decision 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 initiated by Piastri to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to challenge Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by McLaren's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in Qatar

The fateful point for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the German 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 safety car

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

With the tire manufacturer enforcing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as quick as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen said: This was an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent And extremely pleased to win here and stay in the fight to the end, incredible

Final Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not produce the most thrilling competition, but once again this twilight race hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one