Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

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

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events 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 started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out 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 position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis 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 other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life