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

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win 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 top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Max 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 tenth place after starting at the rear

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

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life