Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

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

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

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

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

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, 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 following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle 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 Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life