Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish 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's still a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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 high-profile races were:

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

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

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only 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 both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention 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 Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career