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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's 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 heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life