Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, 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 told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

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