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The championship contender benefited from a strategy call from the British team that flew in the face of decisions made by every other team during an initial safety car period

It was a costly decision that sacrificed track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and in hindsight threw away the race win for Piastri

Race Results and Championship Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th victory of the campaign, matching Norris and Piastri, while the Australian was second and the British driver fourth behind the Williams of the Spanish driver

The McLaren driver earned an additional points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who overtook Piastri by four points heading to the final race on December 5-7

To win the title, Norris must secure a podium position at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next race day

Critical Moments of the Thrilling Race

• McLaren's choice not to pit when a safety car was deployed on lap seven for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A decision initiated by Piastri to bring forward his final stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge Verstappen came to nothing
• A surprise second podium for Sainz handed by the team's tactical decision

How The British Team Missed Out in The Race

The fateful point for McLaren was when the two drivers came together as the German tried to pass the Gasly around the exterior of Turn One on the seventh lap

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit 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 enforcing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who pitted at that moment was committed to a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Competitor Reactions and After the Event Comments

No words

Piastri added in his post-race conversation: Clearly we made mistakes tonight I drove the strongest performance I was capable of, as quick as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but couldn't secure victory

The race winner stated: This was an amazing performance for us We made the right call to box It was smart Furthermore extremely pleased to win here and remain competitive to the head, remarkable

Final Grand Prix Standings

• 1. Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
• 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren Racing)
• 5. Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 6. Russell (Mercedes-AMG)
• 7. Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 8. Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari)
• 9. Liam Lawson (RB F1 Team)
• 10. Tsunoda (Red Bull Racing)

Looking Ahead

The crucial championship finale at the Yas Marina This venue does not create the most exciting competition, but yet again this twilight race hosts an contest which appears set to become every bit as thrilling as Sebastian Vettel's first title in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated first title in twenty-twenty-one