Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

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

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life