Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

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

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races 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 attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life