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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming 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 seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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 ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career