Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last 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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Asked 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 several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career