Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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 despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, 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 victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career