Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped 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 fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris 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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

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

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, 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 know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate 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 repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career