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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

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

But after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

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

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

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race 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 "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus 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 advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all 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 know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot 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 held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career