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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

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

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

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

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following 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 disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life