Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen 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 erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career