Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure 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 season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept 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 could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," 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 the entire team"

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

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life