Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon 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 Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career