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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still 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 December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt 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 hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life