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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race 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 heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 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 overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando 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 - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"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 the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed 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 could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres 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 proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life