Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning 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 Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life