Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," 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 extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career