00:00Three contenders for the title and an epic run to turn number one.
00:04If Lando wins tonight, he's champion of the world.
00:08Here come the lights in Qatar.
00:11We're underway and racing to turn number one.
00:14Even reaction time. Verstappen is on Norris immediately.
00:17Oscar Piastri has the lead. Verstappen is up to second place.
00:20And he's got it. He's got what he needed.
00:22He must finish ahead of Lando Norris to stay in the championship battle.
00:26And he's ahead by turn number one.
00:28Norris is down to third. Verstappen is up to second.
00:31And sprinting clear is Oscar Piastri.
00:33Antonelli is up a place to fourth. Sainz finds himself in second.
00:37The two contenders are side by side.
00:39At least Lando Norris hoped he would be.
00:40Verstappen gets what he needs. And he's up to P2.
00:43Yeah, all the reaction time small drivers look pretty much the same.
00:48But it was that second phase of the start that Max Verstappen was able to pull into the slipstream of
00:53Oscar ahead.
00:54A poor start for George Russell. He lost three positions to drop down to seventh.
00:58Everyone on that side of the grid lost out at the front of the field.
01:01Hadjar's lost a couple of places as well from sixth on the grid.
01:04Russell's down three. Norris is down the critical one though.
01:07And it was the second phase there on the clean side of the grid.
01:09Max then had the slipstream and got a crucial move.
01:12Hamilton and Lawson trying to go side by side.
01:15Hamilton having to open the steering wheel.
01:17The driver back length for 13th position.
01:19He's up three places at the start of the penultimate Grand Prix of the year.
01:24Piastri, Norris and Verstappen.
01:26You can see Verstappen in the opening 100 meters alongside.
01:29Hadjar got away terribly. He's already dropping down the field.
01:32Verstappen, you're right, he just did it in that drive phase.
01:34So the reaction was the same.
01:36But Max could apply the throttle way more cleanly.
01:39Get rid of the clutch and start just booting the right foot.
01:44And that was a move to the inside.
01:46Well, they say it's hard to overtake around here, but there's one for Hülkenberg.
01:50Into turn number one.
01:52And this is Pierre Gasly.
01:53And that is how he damaged the underside of the car.
01:55Yeah, so it's his own mistake there, Gasly, that has caused the damage.
01:58He's still circulating okay in ninth.
02:00But he has damaged that underside.
02:03They've got to think about tyre saving at this stage on the medium tyre.
02:07When we get close to the...
02:08Off the road we go.
02:09And it's Hülkenberg, the soft tyre.
02:12He was running and you can see there's no rear right tyre on that Salva.
02:17He's gone off at the first turn and the tyre marks tell a story.
02:21He's spun off the road.
02:22Pierre Gasly has a puncher as well.
02:24And they were battling, battling over ninth place.
02:27They've come together and the safety car is out in Qatar.
02:32This is the reason that we have the safety car.
02:34The Alpine and the Salva making contact.
02:37Looks like it's going to be a good move for Hülkenberg.
02:39Gasly maybe just washing wide on the exit there.
02:42Let's have a look on board with Pierre.
02:44Nico coming around.
02:45Loads of understeer.
02:46It's just, for me, a racing incident there.
02:50So Verstappen having to roll the dice.
02:52Trying to stay in contention for the world championship.
02:55Comes in.
02:55He does the opposite of both McLarens who remain on the racetrack.
02:59A whole bunch of cars coming in.
03:01In fact, most of the field it looks like.
03:03So you're just on the window of being able to pick once more.
03:06The timing of it is neat.
03:07But they've got to run two different compounds of time.
03:09That's why they're double stacking at Mercedes.
03:13We should have just followed him in there.
03:16If you knew the car ahead was staying out.
03:18They have lost all their flexibility for the remainder of the race.
03:23McLaren have got to build an enormous gap to undo the damage here.
03:28We're racing again in the penultimate Grand Prix of the year.
03:31McLaren with so much work to do as Piastri takes us back to full speed.
03:36He is six tenths of a second ahead of Lando Norris.
03:39How quickly can the top two go?
03:43Piastri, Norris, Verstappen.
03:44They are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack in terms of lap time right now.
03:50It's almost like they've got a world championship at stake.
03:53Having Sainz in four and not a George Russell or even a Kimi Antonelli may well be saving the two
04:00McLarens here.
04:01Because that gap is widening at still nearly a second a lap.
04:06And Oscar Piastri looking for a rapid pit stop.
04:09He comes in from the lead of the Grand Prix.
04:11Norris does one more and uses his full allocation on this set of tyres.
04:15No double stack.
04:16Clean enough pit stop.
04:19As Norris gets a new set of tyres.
04:22Championship leader back in the race.
04:24And that is exactly what they needed.
04:262.2 seconds.
04:27Yeah, slick work.
04:30If he wants to get anywhere near Max now at the end of the race,
04:33he has to try and clear these two cars.
04:35They're only going to go for two more laps.
04:37But it's every second will count for Piastri.
04:40He gets the DRS.
04:41There's a slight headwind as mentioned.
04:43The slipstream's working.
04:44Well, Piastri trying to win his world champion straight through.
04:47No messing around.
04:48Good night.
04:49Goodbye.
04:49Up to third for Oscar Piastri.
04:52Still a contender to win the race.
04:53Still a contender to win the world championship.
04:56And he's got to go all in.
05:00Max Verstappen in for another stop.
05:02Timing of the safety car crucial.
05:05Red Bull reacted.
05:06Will it give them victory thanks to the driving of Max Verstappen?
05:09It's the hards going on.
05:11So they've decided to go conservative.
05:15Oh, Oliver Behrman.
05:17Rear axle.
05:18Only one wheel on the wagon.
05:19He's gone early.
05:21You see the car was rocking.
05:23Clear indication that he's going to only have one rear wheel on the car.
05:2610 seconds stop-go penalty is very, very extreme for race control.
05:29So they weren't happy with what they witnessed.
05:32Is this the moment that has caused trouble for Lando Norris?
05:36It cost him a second on the road.
05:38Listen in.
05:39Oh, and it was nearly another dramatic turn of the McLaren and in the championship battle.
05:46And this is how hard he is pushing around the racetrack.
05:49Oh, my word.
05:51The second McLaren to dance over that curb.
05:55Millimeters between spinning and losing the chance to win the world championship.
06:02Fernando Alonso goes round and carries on in the Grand Prix.
06:06Alonso who finds himself P8.
06:10Hard tyres.
06:11Hard tyres.
06:12They've put the race leader on hard tyres.
06:14They don't trust the fastest compound.
06:18In comes Lando Norris to make his stop.
06:22And this needs to be perfect for McLaren.
06:25There goes Sainz.
06:25There goes Antonelli.
06:26Here comes fifth place.
06:27And he's got to just get back to a podium.
06:32Puncher for Isaac Hadjar.
06:33The driver who started this lap in sixth position has a puncher on the penultimate lap of the Grand Prix.
06:41There's only one more chance though for anyone to overtake.
06:44Norris finds his way by.
06:46Crucial moment in the Formula One World Championship.
06:50Lando Norris is up to fourth position.
06:52And the lead will be 12 points in the World Championship.
06:58Not sure what happened to Antonelli, Max.
07:00Looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through.
07:02Still a contender for the Formula One World Championship.
07:07Max Verstappen will not be moved.
07:10He heads to Abu Dhabi with a fighting chance still to win it all.
07:15Grand Prix win number 17 in his career.
07:18Piastri comes home in second.
07:21Sainz will complete the podium if he gets a clean final turn of the racetrack.
07:27We come across the line.
07:28And the gap between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris is 12 points.
07:33Heading into the final Grand Prix of the season.
07:37Cancel your plans.
07:39We will see you next Sunday.
07:41It is Norris versus Verstappen versus Piastri for the Championship of the World.
07:48And Max Verstappen somehow is still part of that conversation.
07:52There is not maybe a state of undergraduate.
07:52We'll see you next Sunday.
07:53Have fun.
07:54Please bet on the right.
07:58I got too old.
07:59You be a disaster.
08:00Option scesque Do you need yourself? You're
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