Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career