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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but 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 rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career