Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over 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 good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max 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 even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen said

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

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life