Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot 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

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in 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"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career