Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max 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 secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes 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 car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win 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 in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping 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 frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life