Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim 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 impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the rear

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

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

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

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

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

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career