Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will secure 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 failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

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

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career