Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George 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 tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

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

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life