🔗 Share this article Lando Norris' Title Wait Goes On as Verstappen Wins in Qatar GP Verstappen secured his 7th win of the campaign Lando Norris, Red Bull's Verstappen and McLaren's Piastri will contest a decisive championship showdown in Yas Marina after the Dutch driver won a thrilling Qatar Grand Prix The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from McLaren 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 gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight cost the race win for Piastri Race Outcome and Championship Implications The race winner won to take his 7th victory of the season, matching the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz The McLaren driver earned an extra two points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap The championship leader has been left with a twelve point lead over Verstappen, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7 To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next race day Key Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix The team's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was called on lap seven for a crash between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg A decision initiated by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge Verstappen came to nothing A unexpected podium finish for Sainz handed by McLaren's strategy call How McLaren Missed Out in The Race The critical point for the team was when the two drivers collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the outside of Turn One on the seventh lap The German's car was damaged beside the circuit That brought out the yellow flag The crucial part of the timing was that it meant there were 50 laps left 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 second stop on the thirty-second lap Competitor Responses and After the Event Comments No words Piastri added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I was capable of, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but couldn't secure victory Verstappen stated: That represented an amazing performance for us We made the right call to box That proved intelligent Furthermore extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable Ultimate Grand Prix Standings 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2. Piastri (McLaren Racing) 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 4. Norris (McLaren) 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 6. George Russell (Mercedes-AMG) 7. Alonso (Aston Martin) 8. Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari) 9. Lawson (RB F1 Team) 10. Tsunoda (Red Bull Racing) Looking Ahead The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not create the most thrilling competition, but once again this twilight race features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in 2021