Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, 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 erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in 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 dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

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

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap 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 poorest qualifying performance of his career