Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career