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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life