Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were running first and third when a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly brought out the Safety Car on Lap 8. Almost the entire field reacted by pitting, including Max Verstappen, but McLaren chose to keep both of their cars on track. With tyre stints limited to 25 laps due to high degradation, this decision left Piastri and Norris at a disadvantage for the remainder of the race.

The consequences were immediate. Verstappen’s early pit stop allowed him to switch to a stronger tyre strategy later in the race, build a gap, and take the lead once Piastri eventually stopped. From that point, Piastri could not close the deficit, and Verstappen went on to win comfortably.

Norris struggled even more, finishing fourth and losing valuable championship points. Instead of extending his lead, he now enters the Abu Dhabi finale with only a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, while Piastri is 16 points behind, setting up a tense three-way fight for the title.

After the race, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted that the strategy call had been a mistake. “We have conceded one pit stop to a rival who was fast today,” he said. The team had feared that pitting both cars would drop them into heavy traffic and cost even more time. “We didn’t want to end up in traffic after the pit stop,” Stella explained.

“But everyone pitted, and this made our staying out ultimately incorrect from a race outcome point of view.” He described the error as “significantly penalising,” especially for Piastri, who “was in control of the race and deserved to win it.”

Despite the setback, Norris chose not to blame the team. “We thought we did what was correct,” he said. “Both of us should have pitted, but I also have to have faith that the team are making the right call.” Piastri, meanwhile, was more direct, calling the outcome “speechless” after losing what had seemed like a certain victory.

Stella also acknowledged that McLaren’s recent mistakes, including their disqualification in Las Vegas, may appear worse because the championship battle is so close. “The tighter the competition is, the more issues are exposed,” he said. He promised a full internal review of the Qatar decision, stressing the need to avoid bias and to focus on executing “perfect weekends” under pressure.