Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max 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, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line 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 told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life