Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium 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's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max 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 high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising 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 able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career