Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

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 lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept 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 Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career