Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix 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 thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max 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 praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event 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 win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the back

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

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try 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"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life