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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred 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 congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career