Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career