Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half 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 too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After 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 included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

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

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race 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 commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career