Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

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

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life