Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career