Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose 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 podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

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

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

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

Norris asked his race engineer how to run 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 soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life