Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, 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 first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

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

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

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career