🔗 Share this article Lando Norris' Championship Hopes Continues as Verstappen Wins in Qatar GP The Red Bull driver secured his 7th win of the season Lando Norris, Red Bull's Verstappen and Oscar Piastri will battle for a decisive championship showdown in Yas Marina after Verstappen won a thrilling Qatar GP The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that contradicted decisions made by all other squads during an initial safety car deployment This proved to be a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight cost the race win for Piastri Race Outcome and Championship Consequences The race winner won to take his 7th win of the campaign, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was second and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver Norris won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap Norris has been maintained a twelve point lead over his rival, who moved ahead of his teammate by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on 5-7 December To secure the championship, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if his rival takes victory next Sunday Key Events of the Dramatic Grand Prix McLaren's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on the seventh lap for a collision between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Nico Hulkenberg A decision initiated by the Australian to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader came to nothing A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver handed by McLaren's tactical decision How The British Team Lost Out in Qatar The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg collided as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap The German's car was damaged beside the track That brought out the yellow flag The critical part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps left in the race With the tire manufacturer enforcing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tyres, that signified anyone who made a stop at that time was committed to a rigid strategy with a second stop on the thirty-second lap Driver Responses and After the Event Comments Speechless Piastri added in his post-race interview: Obviously we made mistakes tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as quick as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my utmost but couldn't secure victory Verstappen stated: That represented an amazing performance for us We made the right call to pit That proved smart And extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable Final Race Positions 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren Racing) 3. Sainz (Williams Racing) 4. Norris (McLaren) 5. Antonelli (Mercedes) 6. George Russell (Mercedes-AMG) 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 8. Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari) 9. Lawson (RB F1 Team) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) Looking Ahead The crucial title decider at the Yas Marina Circuit This venue does not produce the most exciting racing, but once again this evening event features an event which appears set to become every bit as dramatic as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's highly controversial initial championship in 2021