Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap 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 rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life