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

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

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

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place 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 event

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 laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

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