Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

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

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

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits 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 ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life