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Verstappen capitalized on a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car period

This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the victory for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Championship Consequences

Verstappen triumphed to take his seventh win of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Australian was second and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a twelve point lead over his rival, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to the final race on 5-7 December

To secure the championship, Norris must finish at least third at Yas Marina if Verstappen wins the race next race day

Critical Moments of the Dramatic Grand Prix

• McLaren's decision not to pit when a safety car was called on the seventh lap for a collision between Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision led by Piastri to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz gifted by McLaren's strategy call

The Way McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The critical point for the team was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

The German's car was damaged beside the track This triggered the yellow flag

The critical 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 meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a second stop on lap 32

Driver Responses and After the Event Comments

No words

The McLaren driver added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the best race I could, as fast as I could, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

Verstappen stated: That represented an incredible race for us We made the right call to box It was intelligent And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Positions

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

Looking Ahead

The all-important championship finale at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most thrilling racing, but yet again this evening event features an contest which promises to be every bit as thrilling as Vettel's maiden championship in twenty-ten, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial initial championship in 2021