Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the back

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

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life