Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt 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 everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need 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 take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career