Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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 driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life