Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert 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 failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early pit stop 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 could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle 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 Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life