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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

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

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career