Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the back

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

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"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 approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start third in the wet

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life