Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win 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 impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise 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 maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian 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 time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

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

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career