Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the back

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

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin 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 pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

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