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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

Norris will secure the championship 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 strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

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 high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

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

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

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved 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 pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career