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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads 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 next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows 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 title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

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

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life