Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen 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 erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

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

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

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following 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 disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career