Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive 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 early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place 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 title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, 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 after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life