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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career