Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

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

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

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max 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 prestigious races included:

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life