Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"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 extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career