Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty 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 does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

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

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors 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 circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life