Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, 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 remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" 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 gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam 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 repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after 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 replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot 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 take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life