Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

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

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

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much 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 favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life