Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship 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 opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

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 advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end 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 eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping 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 was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "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 all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career