Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career