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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two 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 fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck 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 career