Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas F1 Race Win

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires 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

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

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

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career