Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the title 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 season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

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

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority 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 pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career