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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship 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 strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following 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 included:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race 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 fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career