Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

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

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

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life