Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after 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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman'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 lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, 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 my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career