Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to win, 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 benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life