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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden 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 in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the back

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

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing 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 title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life