Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred 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 season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

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

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon 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 also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career