Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

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

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life