Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, 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 place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career