Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

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

Following 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 maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life