Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep 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 starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his career