Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively 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 easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

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

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life