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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of 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 over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen 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 place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

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

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career