Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender 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 podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

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

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

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

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising 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 use his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career