Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, 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 pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

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

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career