Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

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

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life