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

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the rear

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

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

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

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

"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 very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career