Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title 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 opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After 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 high-profile races included:

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

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

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

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

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

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping 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 video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth 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 salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career