Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris 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 the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life