Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily 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 so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation 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 place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of 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 employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life