Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose 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 failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his career