Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win 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 season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

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

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," 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 end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

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

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career