Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"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 extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

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

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life