Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

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

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge 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 lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

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

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now 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 gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life