Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life