Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I erred early on 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 his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

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

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career