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

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title 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 consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the back

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

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring 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 more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career