Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next 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 seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost 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 entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

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

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career