Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

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, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life