Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

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

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life