Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win 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 impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping 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 video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career