🔗 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

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the closing laps and in hindsight threw away the race win for the Australian driver

Race Results and Championship Implications

The race winner triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was runner-up and the British driver fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been maintained a 12-point lead over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on 5-7 December

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

Critical Events of the Thrilling Race

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a yellow flag was called on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to catch the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise second podium for Sainz gifted by McLaren's tactical decision

The Way 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 Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the track This triggered 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 maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that moment was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and Post-Race Statements

No words

Piastri commented in his post-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight I drove the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

The race winner stated: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box That proved smart Furthermore super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Ultimate Race Standings

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

What's Next?

The crucial championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most exciting competition, but once again this twilight race hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in 2021