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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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 high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three 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 remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career