Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after 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 penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career