Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

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

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his career