Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

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

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career