Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim 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 first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished 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 starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life