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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

"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 extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life