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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton 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

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win 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 began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound 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 race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from 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 impressive performance to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career