Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career