🔗 Share this article Norris' Championship Hopes Continues as Max Verstappen Triumphs in Qatar GP The Red Bull driver secured his 7th victory of the season Lando Norris, Red Bull's Verstappen and McLaren's Piastri will contest a final-race championship showdown in Abu Dhabi after the Dutch driver emerged victorious in a thrilling Qatar GP The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from the British team that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an initial safety car deployment It was a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the closing laps and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri Race Results and Title Implications The race winner won to take his 7th win of the campaign, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was runner-up and the British driver fourth behind the Williams car of the Spanish driver The McLaren driver won himself an extra two points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap The championship leader has been left with a 12-point lead over his rival, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7 To win the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday Critical Events of the Dramatic Race The team's decision not to stop when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg A strategy initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen proved unsuccessful A surprise podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's strategy call How McLaren Lost Out in The Race The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven Hulkenberg's car was 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 grand prix With the tire manufacturer enforcing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on the thirty-second lap Competitor Reactions and After the Event Statements No words The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Obviously 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 Tried my utmost but didn't get it done Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to pit It was intelligent Furthermore extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the end, incredible Final Race Positions 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren Racing) 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 4. Norris (McLaren Racing) 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG) 6. George Russell (Mercedes-AMG) 7. Alonso (Aston Martin F1) 8. Leclerc (Ferrari) 9. Lawson (Racing Bulls) 10. Tsunoda (Red Bull Racing) Looking Ahead The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not create the most exciting competition, but once again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one