Las Vegas, Nov 23 (LatestNewsX): Max Verstappen clinched a dominant win at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, keeping Lando Norris off the podium and shrinking the McLaren driver’s points cushion to 42, as Oscar Piastri finished fourth.
Right from the first corner, Verstappen seized control of the 50‑lap street race. He passed Norris at Turn 1 after the championship leader went wide, having initially nudged his rival off the line. Norris found himself stuck behind George Russell for most of the race and only regained the position later, but he couldn’t catch the German, finishing nearly 21 seconds behind after a late‑race issue.
Russell stayed on the podium, lamenting steering problems that almost saw him lose his spot to teammate Kimi Antonelli, who began from 17th but finished fourth. Antonelli held off a last‑minute push from Piastri and Charles Leclerc, yet a five‑second penalty for a false start pushed him back to fifth, just 0.1 seconds ahead of Leclerc, who fell back in the final laps.
Piastri, who had fallen to seventh after a collision with Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls in the opening turn, ultimately finished fourth, putting him 30 points behind Norris in the championship.
Leclerc took sixth after a strong start from ninth, while Carlos Sainz rounded out the top seven piloting his Williams past Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.
The rest of the top ten was occupied by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, starting from the back, snagged a point on a hard‑tyre opening stint, as did Hulkenberg.
Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman of Haas narrowly missed the points; Bearman was inside the top ten early on, even beating Fernando Alonso, who finished 13th.
Spanish driver Daniil Kvyat led Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull, which started from the pit lane, and Pierre Gasly fought his way with Alpine after a wrong‑side approach at Turn 1 on the first lap.
Lawson ended the race 16th after a second‑lap collision forced a pit stop, while Franco Colapinto’s Alpine secured the final seat.
Alex Albon (Williams) retired after a clash with Hamilton’s back, necessitating a new front wing, and both Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) withdrew following Contact at Turn 1 on the opening lap.
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