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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title 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 season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

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