Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all 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 see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life