Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than 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 top three for six races

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, 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 starting first from Verstappen

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance 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 pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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 repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

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

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career