Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver 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 Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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 high-profile races were:

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career