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

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career