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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved 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 fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several 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 something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life