Verstappen beats Piastri to take F1 title race to wire

But the Dutchman has now leapfrogged Piastri to lead the Australian by four points, with a thrilling finale to the season now set for next Sunday's race in Abu Dhabi where all threendrivers are still in the hunt.

Pole-sitter Piastri had enjoyed a superb weekend, having dominated every session and won the sprint race, and he again made a perfect start to show early domination.

But McLaren's fateful decision not to pit under the safety car, when he had been leading comfortably, left him and Norris having to do the chasing, with Carlos Sainz ending up just ahead of the Briton in third place at the flag.

Piastri was left hugely frustrated at the decision, sighing to his team over the radio at the end that "I don't have any words..."