Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris 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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true 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 following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting 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 race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life