Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still 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 high-profile races included:

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

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

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

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

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

But after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

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

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life