Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After 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 high-profile races included:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form 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 difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, 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 engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life