Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

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

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

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

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event 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 lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told 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 obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his career