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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life