Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship 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 momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career