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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

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

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, 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 all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

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

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up 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 rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life