Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished 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 claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event 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 momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career