Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last 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 17 to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max 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 were:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

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

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run 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 soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly 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 start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career