Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las 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 behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed 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 manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career