Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

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

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

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

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life