Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career