Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career