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

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind 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 doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

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

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train 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 racing life