Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event 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 maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience 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 extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

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

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind 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 time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life