Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career