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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

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

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

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life