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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following 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:

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

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

This enabled Verstappen to drive past 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 Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed 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 manage the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

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

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career