Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career