Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the back

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

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

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

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

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

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

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life