Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after 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 frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life