Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title 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 Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris 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 season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes 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 after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly 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 capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life