Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas F1 Race Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

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

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

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end 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 after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Liam 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 repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life