Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

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

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least 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 optimize everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try 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 the entire team"

Piastri began 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 front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career