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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish 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," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

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

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando 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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after 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 proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career