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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career