Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken 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 Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

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