Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

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

The Briton will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

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

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life