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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' 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 doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

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

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

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam 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 could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life