Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer 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 teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life