Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of 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 penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose 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 podium for six races

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure 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:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

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

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

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

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things 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"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career