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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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 prestigious races were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran 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 immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors 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 held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his career