Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim 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 opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told 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 obviously require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career