Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last 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 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

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

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, 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 quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

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

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

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

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