Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win 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 first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake 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 congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life