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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career