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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will secure the title in the desert 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 first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed 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 tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life