Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar 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 season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career