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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career