Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

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

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

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

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

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life