Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last 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 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max 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 high-profile races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the back

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

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career