Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

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

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish 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 remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot 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 circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career