Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

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

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after beginning at the rear

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

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake 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 the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

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

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

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

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life