Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following 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 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

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

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of 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 slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career