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Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

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

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

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

The McLaren driver won himself an extra two points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been maintained 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 title, the British driver must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Key Events of the Thrilling Race

• The team's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to advance his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by the team's tactical decision

How The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The critical moment for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

The German's car was left damaged beside the circuit This triggered the safety car

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

With Pirelli imposing a 25-lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his post-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box It was smart And extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the end, incredible

Ultimate Race Positions

• 1. Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
• 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren Racing)
• 3. Sainz (Williams Racing)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing)
• 5. Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG)
• 6. George Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. 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 This venue does not produce the most exciting competition, but once again this evening event hosts an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in twenty-twenty-one