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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

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

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things 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 take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life