Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

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

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"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 started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken 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 Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

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

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life