Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

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

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, 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

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career