Max Verstappen delivers ‘interesting’ reaction to McLaren’s failed strategy at the Qatar Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen claimed one of the most important victories of his Formula 1 career so far at the Qatar Grand Prix to keep his slender title hopes alive.

The Dutchman heads to Abu Dhabi trailing Lando Norris by just 12 points in the drivers’ championship, despite having been 104 points behind at one stage.

After Saturday’s sprint, while 25 points behind, it looked like Red Bull had lost a lot of hope again, but they were a different animal on Sunday, as Verstappen has often been this season.

McLaren made a bold call not to pit after an early safety car, which ended up costing Oscar Piastri dearly, and has thrown things wide open with one race to go.

Martin Brundle saw ‘bad news’ from Verstappen in Saturday’s sprint, but his 24-hour recovery is a testament to his mental strength.

With the best finale in over 15 years set up for next weekend, Verstappen has a ‘psychological advantage’ over Norris, and has a lot of experience in the situations that they will face.

READ MORE: Lando Norris told Max Verstappen’s ‘crucial’ advantage cannot be ‘underestimated’ in F1 title fight

Max Verstappen thinks McLaren’s failed Qatar Grand Prix strategy was ‘interesting’

Verstappen needed a big miracle heading into Qatar, and half of his prayers might have been answered after Norris finished fourth.

McLaren were the only team that opted against pitting on lap seven, when an early safety car was deployed to recover Nico Hulkenberg’s car.

At the restart, Norris and Piastri were the only two cars on the grid with two stops left to make. The decision would backfire.

In the end, they couldn’t really get close to Verstappen, and the big loser was Piastri, who dominated the majority of the weekend.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, the four-time champion shared his thoughts on McLaren’s strategy in a chat with Martin Brundle.

“I was like ‘That’s an interesting move.’ I knew that then, of course, we had a bit of a gap,” he said. “But still, you need to keep the tyres alive 25 laps as well. The wear is very high around here, but luckily it all worked out.”

READ MORE: Helmut Marko privately admits Red Bull ‘don’t know’ how to solve one issue affecting Max Verstappen

How important was the Qatar Grand Prix start in defining Lando Norris’ F1 title hopes?

Getting past Norris at the start of the race was critical for Verstappen’s hopes. He was the filling in a McLaren sandwich and was able to do the opposite of what Piastri wanted to.

It was a slight surprise that Norris didn’t follow him in at the very least, but McLaren were caught out by every other car deciding to switch tyres.

Verstappen’s superior start could end up being a defining move in the title fight, and it also puts a bit more pressure on Norris to get a better start next weekend.

He gained 12 points on the Briton in Qatar, and the same result would see him crowned champion in Abu Dhabi. If it has happened once, it could easily happen again.