Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively 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 little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career