Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

• A superb victory for Max 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 10th following starting at the rear

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

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life