🔗 Share this article Norris' Title Wait Continues as Verstappen Triumphs in Qatar GP The Red Bull driver claimed his seventh win of the season McLaren's Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri will contest a final-race championship clash in Yas Marina after Verstappen emerged victorious in a gripping Qatar Grand Prix The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from McLaren that contradicted 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 retrospectively threw away the victory for the Australian driver Race Outcome and Championship Implications The race winner triumphed to take his seventh victory of the campaign, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap The championship leader has been maintained a 12-point advantage over his rival, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December To secure the championship, Norris must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next Sunday Critical Events of the Dramatic Race McLaren's choice not to stop when a yellow flag was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between Alpine's Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg A strategy initiated by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's tactical decision The Way McLaren Missed Out in Qatar The fateful point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap Hulkenberg's car was damaged beside the circuit This triggered the yellow flag The crucial part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the race With the tire manufacturer imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on lap 32 Driver Reactions and After the Event Statements No words The McLaren driver commented in his after-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 nothing left out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory The race winner stated: That represented an amazing performance for us Our team executed the correct decision to box It was intelligent And super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the end, remarkable Final Race Standings 1. Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2. Piastri (McLaren) 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams Racing) 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing) 5. Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG) 6. George Russell (Mercedes) 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin F1) 8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) Looking Ahead The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit The circuit itself does not produce the most exciting racing, but once again this twilight race features an contest which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in 2021