Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar 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 first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, 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 champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life