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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title 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 opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

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

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap 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 could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to go my way at this stage 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, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of 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 became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career