Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads 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 next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar 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 opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career