Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race 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 progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

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

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end 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 hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

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

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life