Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising 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 use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his career