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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 deployment

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

Race Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner triumphed to take his seventh win of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz

Norris won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next Sunday

Critical Moments 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 Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge Verstappen proved unsuccessful
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by the team's tactical decision

The Way The British Team Lost Out in The Race

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on the seventh lap

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 grand prix

With Pirelli enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap

Competitor Responses and Post-Race Comments

Speechless

The McLaren driver added in his post-race interview: Clearly we made mistakes tonight My driving was 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

Verstappen said: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box It was intelligent And extremely pleased to win here and stay in the fight to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in twenty-twenty-one