MCLAREN produced an almighty pit-stop fiasco to hand Max Verstappen a major boost to his title chances.
The Papaya team chose not to bring in either of their drivers when the safety car was deployed on lap seven in the desert.
It left the door wide open to Verstappen, with Red Bull bringing in the four-time world champion for a traffic-free stop before he went on to win the race.
The Dutchman would have been out of the title race, had he finished behind Norris at the Lusail Circuit.
Now he is just 12 POINTS behind the Brit who finished in fourth, while Oscar Piastri came second leaving him 16 off the lead.
Verstappen said he had nothing to lose before the race and he stayed true to his word as he bulldozed past Norris into Turn One.
The pair came within a whisker of each other but Norris was not taking any chances and backed down.
Piastri was flying, as he had been all weekend, setting a new fastest lap and opening up a lead to Verstappen.
The drama arrived on lap seven when the safety car was called into action as Nico Hulkenberg collided with Pierre Gasly.
The Sauber was stranded on track and Verstappen pitted while both the McLarens stayed out.
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The conspiracy theories were then swirling as eyebrows were raised over McLaren‘s bold decision not to pit either one of their drivers.
There were some suggestions that McLaren were concerned about disadvantaging either Norris or Piastri.
Hauling in one for a pit stop and keeping the other out would show two completely different strategies.
Norris even questioned the decision on his own team radio, but his race engineer believes Red Bull have now lost “flexibility” for the rest of the race.
It was a contentious move not to bring at least one of them in and put the win on a silver platter for Verstappen.
Norris was going hell for leather and picked up a first track limits warning for running beyond the lines at Turn 10
The Brit needed to watch his step, while Piastri was flying ahead.
The pit stop drama reared its head again on lap 19 as Verstappen began matching the McLarens’ pace with them nearing their 25-lap tyre limit.
Both were hauled in and came out ahead of Fernando Alonso who was saving their day by holding up 11 CARS behind him.
On lap 32, Norris had just had his second warning for breaching track limits, with two more leading to a five-second penalty.
Verstappen then came in from the lead and was back out in third but the McLarens had to come in again.
Norris was sounding like his old self, flapping on the team radio saying “I’m trying. I can’t do it” when he was told to be quicker than Verstappen.
The Brit then told his team to “check the car, it could be pretty damaged” as he ran a little wide at Turn 14 and had a big slide.
His wobble meant he lost one second to Piastri on the last lap and was six seconds behind.
Verstappen was snapping at Norris’ heels, who he was just two seconds behind him and running faster than.
Piastri slid at the same corner that Norris slipped up at as the Aussie told his engineer he was keen to pit and chase down Verstappen sooner rather than later.
Noris needed a big finish as he reemerged from his next pit stop behind Carlos Sainz and Kimi Anontelli.
Piastri was spiky, sarcastically saying on his team radio “Well…nice” when he was told he needed to drive one second quicker than he was to catch Verstappen.
Norris wasn’t making a dent on Antonelli, with the Brit needing the Mercedes driver’s older tyres to take a turn if he had a chance of getting past him.
Antonelli made a mistake on the penultimate lap and allowed Norris to pass him, handing him two crucial points as the fight will be settled in Abu Dhabi.
