Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting 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 was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

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