Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

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

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

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

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires 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 got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events 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 fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train 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 racing life