Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life