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The championship contender benefited from a tactical decision from McLaren that flew in the face of 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 closing laps and in hindsight cost the race win for Piastri

Grand Prix Results and Title Implications

Verstappen won to take his seventh victory of the campaign, equalling Norris and Piastri, while the Piastri was runner-up and the British driver in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris won himself an additional points by passing Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a twelve 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, the British driver must finish at least third at Abu Dhabi if Verstappen wins the race next Sunday

Key Events of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• The team's choice not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on lap seven for a crash between the French team's Gasly and the Swiss team's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by Piastri to bring forward his last pit stop in a last-ditch effort to challenge the leader proved unsuccessful
• A surprise podium finish for the Williams driver handed by the team's strategy call

How McLaren Missed Out in The Race

The fateful moment for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to pass the Frenchman around the exterior of Turn One on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the track That brought out the safety car

The critical part of the timing was that it meant there were 50 laps left in the race

With the tire manufacturer imposing a 25-lap maximum usage on the tyres, that meant anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a fixed plan with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Comments

No words

Piastri added in his post-race conversation: Obviously we didn't get it right tonight My driving was the strongest performance I could, as fast as I possible, but there was no more pace out there Attempted my best but didn't get it done

The race winner stated: This was an amazing performance for us We made the correct decision to box It was smart And super-happy to win here and remain competitive to the end, remarkable

Final Race Standings

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

Looking Ahead

The crucial title decider at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina This venue does not produce the most exciting racing, but yet again this evening event features an event which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Sebastian Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or Verstappen's much-debated initial championship in twenty-twenty-one