🔗 Share this article

The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment

It was a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight cost the victory for Piastri

Race Outcome and Championship Implications

The race winner triumphed to take his 7th victory of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

Norris earned an additional points by overtaking the Mercedes driver's Silver Arrow on the second-to-last lap

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

To secure the championship, Norris must finish at least third at Yas Marina if his rival wins the race next Sunday

Key Events of the Thrilling Race

• McLaren's choice not to stop when a safety car was called on lap seven for a collision between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg
• A decision led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a desperate attempt to challenge the leader came to nothing
• A surprise podium finish for Sainz gifted by the team's strategy call

The Way McLaren Lost Out in The Race

The fateful point for the team was when the two drivers came together as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the track That brought out the safety car

The crucial part of the timing was that it meant there were 50 laps remaining in the race

With Pirelli enforcing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who pitted at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his after-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as quick as I possible, but there was nothing left out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: This was an incredible race for us We made the correct decision to box That proved smart Furthermore extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Final Race Positions

• 1. Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 2. Piastri (McLaren)
• 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing)
• 5. Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 6. Russell (Mercedes)
• 7. Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 8. Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari)
• 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
• 10. Tsunoda (Red Bull)

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina This venue does not produce the most thrilling racing, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one