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lando norris‘Will be bidding to become champion of the world f1 season finale Abu Dhabi after next weekend max verstappen a calamity redeemed mclaren strategy decision to win Queue Grand Prix.
Norris, who finished only fourth, will enter the final round just 12 points ahead with verstappen oscar piastrirunner up red Bull Driver under the lights on Sunday, 16 points behind There are 25 players left to play.
mclaren Norris was in control early in the 57-lap contest despite dropping from second to third behind Verstappen.
Piastri led, but both he and Norris were asked to pit when a safety car was deployed on the seventh lap following a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly.
Of the other 18 drivers, only Haas’s Esteban Ocon decided not to stop for new tires with two stops being mandatory.
This put Verstappen in the driving seat to keep alive his dream of winning a fifth consecutive title, and the Dutchman did not waste his chance, taking the checkered flag by 7.9 seconds from Piastri with Norris – who came close to losing control of his McLaren on 36 of the 57 laps – behind Carlos Sainz in fourth.
Norris overtook Kimi Antonelli on the final lap and would still win the world championship if he finished third in the final race in seven days.
The McLaren team were desperate to end Verstappen’s title bid in Sunday’s showdown, along with the British team’s CEO. jack brown In preparation for Round 23 of 24, he was described as “the guy in horror movies who keeps coming back”.
But his worst fears have now been realized as Verstappen heads to Formula One’s first title decider since 2021 and just his third title in 10 seasons.
“It was an incredible race for us, and we made the right call to stop behind the safety car,” said Verstappen.
“That was smart. I’m very happy to win and we’re still in the fight.”
Asked about McLaren’s strategy blunder, Verstappen said: “I was like, ‘That’s an interesting move’.”
Top-10 – Qatar Grand Prix
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz – Williams
4. Lando Norris – McLaren
5. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
6. George Russell – Mercedes
7. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
8. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
9. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls
10. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull
Piastri, who said on the radio after the race: “I’m speechless,” added: “Clearly, we didn’t do it properly tonight. I ran the best race, as fast as I could, and there was nothing left.
“In the end, it’s quite clear what we should have done but we will discuss it as a team. It’s not all bad but it’s hard to understand at the moment.”
Piastri has every right to feel most distressed. He took control from pole while Norris dropped to third. Verstappen started from a clean section of the track to go level with Norris and then drifted to his right to scare the British driver.
Norris did not want to get involved and Verstappen was in second place. Not ideal but not the end of the world either. Then the defining moment of the race, and perhaps the season.
A safety car was deployed after Gasly’s move to the outside at Turn 2 went wrong, leaving Hulkenberg stranded in his injured Sauber.
All drivers were only allowed 25 laps on a set of tires amid safety concerns due to excessive rubber wear, with the obvious decision coming for their first stint.
But Piastri and Norris remained out. Were McLaren worried about favoring one driver and going against their papaya rules of equal opportunity? Either way, the two men were no longer in no man’s land.
On lap 24, Piastri came in for a tire change and was followed by Norris on the next lap. Piastri and Norris were behind Verstappen, Sainz and Antonelli.
Piastri beat Antonelli to take fourth place on lap 30, but failed to clear the Norris Mercedes in front of Antonelli and the others, stalling on lap 32.
“This is the part of the race where we need to be faster than Max,” Norris was told, with the out-of-sync McLaren men now running in clean air in first and second.
But then there was a wobble for Norris as he ran wide at Turn 14 and he called his team to check the damage to the car.
Piastri stopped for the second time on lap 42 and Norris stopped two laps later. But while Piastri was second on the road, Norris was fifth.
He was able to pass Antonelli at turn one, but the door has been left open for Verstappen to derail the McLaren team that ended the Constructors’ Championship in Azerbaijan in September.
“We could have done things differently and we did what we felt was right,” Norris said. “We both should have done this.
“If we had double-stacked, I would have wasted time. It’s something we’ll talk about and review. I have to have confidence that the team is making the right decision.”
Asked about next week’s decider, he added: “It’s going to feel the same as every weekend. I try and beat them, they try and beat me. It’s no different. I just want to go to bed.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. It wasn’t my best weekend in terms of driving and putting things together. That’s life. Everyone has bad weekends. I take it on the chin, we all take it on the chin, and we’ll see what we can do next weekend.”