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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

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

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate 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 overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued 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 point after the poorest qualifying session of his career