Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake 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 praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

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

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

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

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life