Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure 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 strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season 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 title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out 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 also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career