'We made the wrong decision' – Brown and Stella admit to McLaren strategy error in Qatar with team 'haemorrhaging' points

CEO Zak Brown admitted that McLaren "made the wrong decision" after a poor strategy allowed Max Verstappen to claim victory in the Qatar Grand Prix and take the title battle down to the final round in Abu Dhabi.

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked out the front row for Sunday's 57-lap race at the Lusail International Circuit, as victory for Norris would have guaranteed the Briton his first Formula 1 World title.

Norris dropped behind Verstappen at the start before the pivotal moment of the race came on Lap 7 as a Safety Car was deployed for Nico Hulkenberg's stranded Kick Sauber at Turn 1.

While Piastri and Norris remained out on track, the rest of the field entered the pit lane to make the first of two mandatory stops, with tyres limited to a 25-lap stint by Pirelli.

It meant that both McLaren drivers were required to make their pit stops under green flag running that ultimately dropped them behind Verstappen, with Piastri finishing second as Norris could only salvage fourth behind Carlos Sainz.

"We made the wrong decision. Feel terrible for Oscar and Lando," Brown told F1 TV post-race.

"Oscar was absolutely impeccable all weekend, so we let them down. You win and lose as a team but definitely not a great moment. Our evaluation if a Safety Car came out on that lap was clearly incorrect so we'll go back, study that, nothing we can do about it now.

"We're leading the championship but Oscar with a deficit, [we] left some points on the table so we'll just do the best we can in Abu Dhabi. We were very strong there last year."

When asked whether McLaren could have split its strategy, especially after Verstappen entered the pit lane ahead of Norris, Brown replied: "No, we didn't want to change what we decided to do coming into the race. I think it's always dangerous to maybe second guess yourself."

The result means Norris holds a 12-point lead over Verstappen heading to the final race of the season next weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, with Piastri a further four points behind.

The result in Qatar comes after both McLaren drivers were disqualified at the previous round in Las Vegas, with Team Principal Andrea Stella admitting the team, and not the drivers, needed to do a better job.

"We are disappointed because we are haemorrhaging points in a way in the last two events," he told F1 TV.

"Our drivers are doing a very good job and, if anything, it's the team that needs to elevate their game and make sure that we give our drivers the possibility to capitalise on their great driving.

"On the other side, we need to just look forward, get all the learning that we receive from racing but at the same time we need to think forward, prepare, remain confident.

"We have a fast car, we have two great drivers, we need to use all the information to make sure that we execute a perfect race weekend. I think we have all the ingredients to be successful, it's still in our hands but it requires to do a better job than what we have done in the last two races."