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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually 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

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting 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 disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career