Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of 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 move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life