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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar 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 opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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 lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive 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 corner

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run 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 no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try 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 first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out 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 Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career