Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

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

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career