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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate 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 pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

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

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career