Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, 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 by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life