Decision postponed

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Max Verstappen took the win in Qatar, punishing McLaren's tactical errors.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/AFP/POOL/Altaf Qadri, ASSOCIATED PRESS/Darko Bandic)

With a successful strategy poker and victory at the Qatar Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has postponed the decision in the Formula 1 title fight. The Red Bull driver unexpectedly outpaced his rivals in the McLaren on Sunday. Sprint winner Oscar Piastri finished second, while championship leader Lando Norris was unable to finish higher than fourth in the penultimate race of the season after a suboptimal pit stop tactic. This means that the three-way championship battle will come down to a showdown in Abu Dhabi. Thanks to his victory, Verstappen is now only twelve points behind championship leader Norris.

The podium was surprisingly completed by Williams driver Carlos Sainz in third place for the second time this season. Norris was thus unable to capitalize on his first "match point" and is now only twelve points ahead of defending champion Verstappen. Piastri, who started from pole position, is 16 points behind Norris ahead of next week's final Grand Prix. Verstappen, who was already 104 points behind three months ago and kept his chances of a fifth consecutive world title alive, celebrated his third Grand Prix victory in a row and the 70th of his career at the Lusail International Circuit.

"It's unbelievable. Very well done with the strategy, that was great. We're still in it!" Verstappen, who equaled Norris with his seventh win of the season, radioed happily to the pits. "It was an incredible race for us. We made the right decision as a team. We are in the title fight until the last race, unbelievable," added the Dutchman shortly afterwards in the winner's interview, looking calmly ahead to the championship race. "It's still possible now. We'll see, I'm not too worried about that."

Piastri "speechless"
 Piastri, on the other hand, was "speechless" about his team's botched strategy just outside Doha after an almost perfect weekend in the desert. "We didn't get it right today. I drove as fast as I could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough," said the Australian. But it wasn't all bad, Piastri added after an otherwise strong weekend.

"Not great," Norris assessed the strategy afterwards on ORF. "We didn't make the right decision, but there's nothing I can do about that now." The 26-year-old Briton still has everything in his own hands in Abu Dhabi, a third place would be enough for his first world championship title.

Good start by Verstappen
The starting position in Qatar promised to be exciting, as the three championship contenders started the race in the first three positions. Verstappen had little to lose behind the McLaren duo of Piastri and Norris and was able to take full risk. Piastri got off to a good start and defended his lead confidently, with Verstappen passing Norris behind him.

Here is the result in detail:

In front of international celebrities such as tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, who was rooting for McLaren, and ex-footballer David Beckham, Piastri sought to escape to the front. As the tires were only allowed to remain on the cars for 25 laps for safety reasons, the drivers had to pit twice on the Lusail International Circuit. On the 7th of 57 laps, Sauber driver Nico Hülkenberg caused a safety car period after a crash with Pierre Gasly's Alpine, which turned things upside down.

McLaren gave up the race
While the entire field, including Verstappen, opted for a tire change, the McLaren duo decided not to make a pit stop. Norris complained that he had not followed the Red Bull into the pits, but his team reacted calmly. "They have lost their strategic flexibility," the championship leader was told on the radio. The new motto: extend the lead over Verstappen as far as possible. Despite the older tires, this was achieved at least in phases.

Here is the championship standings:

  The McLaren duo came back onto the track after the first pit stop in fourth and fifth place, a hair's breadth ahead of a longer pack of cars, keeping their chances of victory alive. While Piastri made up some time in the long-distance battle with Verstappen, Norris made a small mistake. After his second tire change, Piastri returned to the track well behind his Red Bull rival, while Norris was only fifth behind Sainz and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.

Messed-up evening for Norris
Verstappen drove easily towards the Grand Prix victory. Piastri was no longer able to get close to the Dutchman. Norris, on the other hand, passed Antonelli shortly before the end and secured two more points on an otherwise botched evening.