Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

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

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

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows 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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try 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 the entire team"

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

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

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

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

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