Norris Edges Closer 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 Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time 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, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life