Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

After 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 high-profile races were:

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

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

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded 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 BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life