Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved 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 fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life