Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

• A superb victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win 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"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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