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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship 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 championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

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

• Oscar 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 both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman'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, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life