Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

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

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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 pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping 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 replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career