Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures 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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following starting at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits 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 finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to win, 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 Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his career