In desperation, Piastri convinced the team that the only chance they had was to stop earlier and give themselves more time to chase down the Red Bull.
Piastri came in on lap 42, with 15 laps to the end, and fitted hard tyres, but although he was able to reduce Verstappen’s lead to eight seconds by the end, the four-time champion was under no pressure.
“No words,” Piastri said over the radio at the end of the race.
He added in his post-race interview: “Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight. I drove the best race I could, as fast as I could, but there was nothing left out there. Tried my best but didn’t get it done.
“In hindsight, it’s pretty obvious what we should have done but we’ll discuss it as a team. A little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
Verstappen said: “This was an incredible race for us. We made the right call as a team to box. It was smart. And super-happy to win here and stay in the fight to the head, incredible.
“It was a little bit offset because of it all but for us it was a very strong race on a weekend when it was a little bit tough but we still got it done.”
He described McLaren’s strategy as “an interesting move”, adding: “But still you have to keep the tyres alive.”
Norris, who would have won the title had he won the race, said: “I had no expectations going into the weekend. I try to do my best. It wasn’t good enough today, but that’s life.
“We made the wrong decision, that was clear as soon as it happened. It was more of a gamble doing what we did than what they did.”
Piastri should have taken a comfortable victory, but Norris struggled more, even though second was on offer had McLaren made the right strategy call.
He had a massive moment at the high speed Turn 14 on lap 35, just rescuing a crash, at a time when the McLaren drivers were trying to build as big a gap as possible before their final stop.
Instead, fearing he had damaged his floor, Norris had Verstappen right behind him until his final stop.
Norris came out in fifth place, behind Sainz and Antonelli, and for a long time struggled to pass the Italian.
Until, with just over a lap to go, Antonelli ran wide, and Norris was able to move ahead.
He closed in on Sainz, and crossed the line 0.6secs behind the Spaniard, for whom a second podium to follow the one in Baku was an extraordinary feat.
