Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over 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 top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. 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 one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

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 Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career