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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

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

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after 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 event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, 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, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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