Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise 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 high-profile races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent 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 taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life