🔗 Share this article Lando Norris' Title Wait Goes On as Max Verstappen Wins in Qatar The Red Bull driver secured his seventh win of the campaign Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and McLaren's Piastri will contest a decisive championship showdown in Abu Dhabi after the Dutch driver won a gripping Qatar Grand Prix Verstappen capitalized on a strategy call from McLaren that flew in the face of decisions made by all other squads during an early race safety car deployment It was a expensive choice that sacrificed track position to Verstappen in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the race win for Piastri Grand Prix Outcome and Title Implications Verstappen won to take his 7th victory of the season, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was second and the Briton fourth behind the Williams car of Carlos Sainz Norris earned an extra two points by passing the Mercedes driver's Mercedes on the second-to-last lap Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over his rival, who moved ahead of Piastri by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7 To secure the title, Norris must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen takes victory next Sunday Critical Events of the Thrilling Grand Prix The team's choice not to pit when a safety car was called on lap seven for a collision between Alpine's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg A strategy led by the Australian to advance his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge Verstappen proved unsuccessful A surprise podium finish for Sainz handed by McLaren's strategy call How McLaren Missed Out in Qatar The critical moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the Hulkenberg tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of the first corner on lap seven Hulkenberg'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 remaining in the grand prix With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap maximum usage on the tires, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was committed to a fixed plan with a second stop on the thirty-second lap Driver Responses and After the Event Comments No words The McLaren driver commented in his post-race conversation: Obviously we made mistakes tonight I drove the best race I could, as quick as I could, but there was nothing left out there Tried my utmost but didn't get it done The race winner said: This was an amazing performance for us Our team executed the right call to box It was smart And extremely pleased to triumph in Qatar and stay in the fight to the head, incredible Ultimate Grand Prix Standings 1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams Racing) 4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 5. Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG) 6. Russell (Mercedes-AMG) 7. Alonso (Aston Martin) 8. Leclerc (Ferrari) 9. Lawson (RB F1 Team) 10. Tsunoda (Red Bull) Looking Ahead The all-important championship finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina The circuit itself does not produce the most exciting competition, but once again this evening event hosts an event which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's highly controversial first title in 2021