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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship 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 in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

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

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially 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 best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career