Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next 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 seventeen 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 overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

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

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot 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 hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life