Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career