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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound 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 replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life