Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim 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 opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

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

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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 despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," 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 very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his career