Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title 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 first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in 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 strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career