Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt 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"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life