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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

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

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

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet

Hadjar took 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 proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career