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

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life