Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially 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 could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career