Live: Verstappen keeps F1 title fight alive, Norris extends lead over Piastri

Well.

Anything can happen during live television.

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and George Russell are being interviewed.

Speaking about overshooting the first corner and losing the lead, Norris jokingly said he was happy to let Verstappen have a win.

A lovely, light-hearted moment.

But David Coulthard wanted to continue the interview along that line, but it did not go so well.

Coulthard: “It was nice to see the little jokes that you gave Max the opportunity to get the win. But Lando, just very briefly …”

Norris: “I didn’t. I said I f**ked it up.”

Oops.

Here are some comments from race winner Max Verstappen:

“It worked really well … normally the race is a tough one for us but today I unlocked some pace, could stay out longer and that helped a lot. The car was working well, much more to my liking.”

1. Lando Norris, 408
2. Oscar Piastri, 378 (-30)
3. Max Verstappen, 366 (-42)

Max Verstappen has won the Las Vegas Grand Prix, keeping his slim championship hopes alive.

Lando Norris has crawled home in second, with George Russell finishing third.

Oscar Piastri is fourth. Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but dropped to fifth with a five-second penalty for a false start.

Charles Lelcerc is sixth.

Max Verstappen has a 15-second lead.

Lando Norris is going slowly, just nursing some kind of issue.

George Russell is eight seconds behind Norris.

Piastri will finish fourth.

Mercedes driver George Russell is struggling in third.

He has fallen well off the pace of the leaders.

And if it wasn’t for his teammate, he may have been under pressure from Oscar Piastri.

Kimi Antonelli, who is running fourth but has a five-second penalty, has done a great job to halt Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

Piastri and Leclerc could have caught Russell, but they could not get in front of Antonelli due to an excellent defensive effort.

Only a disaster will prevent Max Verstappen from winning this race.

It would be the 69th grand prix win of his career.

Oscar Piastri is on track to finish fourth, but Charles Leclerc is still pressing hard on the Australian.

Oscar Piastri is in fifth, but in reality he is in fourth place because of the five-second penalty for Kimi Antonelli.

Piastri is under pressure from behind by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen is in full control.

He leads Lando Norris by five seconds.

George Russell is a further six seconds behind.

Then there is an epic battle between Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc for fourth place.

Antonelli has a five-second penalty.

Oscar Piastri has his rear wing open on the back straight.

But Antonelli is defending his position terrifically.

The young Italian holds the inside line and the Aussie cannot make the move on the outside.

Charles Leclerc is now on the rear wing of Piastri.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli pitted around lap 3.

He is trying to pull off an audacious strategy.

He is fourth, but Oscar Piastri is catching.

Piastri really needs to pass the young Italian and put a gap between him and Charles Leclerc.

A reminder, Antonelli has a five-second penalty for a false start.

It is Max Verstappen vs Lando Norris for the win.

Verstappen has a five-second lead and tyres that have done three fewer laps.

But Lando Norris has been very quick in the second half of this race.

Lando Norris is on the rear wing of George Russell.

Norris opens the rear wing on the back straight, and the McLaren driver flies by.

Norris can now set his sights on Max Verstappen and the race win.

Lando Norris is the fastest driver on the circuit.

The McLaren driver is catching George Russell at a rate of knots in the battle for second.

Max Verstappen leads by four seconds.

Oscar Piastri is in fifth.

He is chasing Kimi Antonelli, who is fourth, and pitted on the second lap.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is catching Piastri.

This battle for fourth is spicy.

Max Verstappen leads by 2.7 seconds over George Russell.

Lando Norris is third, and the championship leader is quick.

Oscar Piastri is sixth, with Hulkenberg (4th) needing to pit, and Antonelli (fifth) not required to pit, but it would be stunning if he could drive 48 laps on the hard tyres.

Oscar Piastri is the fastest driver on track.

He is enjoying these hard tyres.

The Australian is able to pull away a bit from Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz behind.

He is up to seventh with Esteban Ocon pitting.

Hulkenberg (4th) and Hamilton (5th) have not pitted, while Antonelli (6th) will need to pit again.

Max Verstappen pits.

It was a sluggish stop from Red Bull. But Verstappen is able to come back onto the track and retain the lead of the grand prix.