Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place 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 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After 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 victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the back

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

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

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