Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win 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 strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events 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 extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify 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 thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life